"Haiku and Ikebana""

Presented by: Norma Bradley, Ichiyo School

Haiku is a short form of poetry originating in Japan which typically uses common language and simple uncomplicated images to convey emotion. A haiku poem is the sharing of a moment of sensory illumination which carries a subtle yet often profound emotional resonance. Ikebana uses carefully selected blossoms, greenery, and other flora to convey a specific feeling or emotion to an observer – just as a haiku, painting or sculpture might.

In a slide show Norma showed examples of different forms of haiku bringing this ancient form into current practice. In Japan, haiku are traditionally written as a single line, while haiku in English often appear as three lines, although variations exist. The 5/7/5 rule was made up for school children to understand and learn this type of poetry. Norma shared some of her recent haiku and haiga which have been published in journals. Haiku and visual art in combination are called haiga. This form is the closest to what was done in combining our arrangements with haiku.