I don't usually have much time for haiku. I find them largely meaningless drivel and verging on the pretentious. But today, I found one sitting opposite me on the tube that sums up for me the essence of haiku, and is also readily memorable. I have reproduced it below, which probably infringes someone's intellectual property, but frankly, if you don't want to be reproduced, you shouldn't produce such work of genius and then sell it on t-shirts.
Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator
Thursday 31 July 2008
Spotted on a t-shirt
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
![[Mother+of+Shrek+winner!.jpg]](http://bp0.blogger.com/_wmVJl3A0om8/R2DjlQJtYfI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/sDljl7IClfw/s1600/Mother%2Bof%2BShrek%2Bwinner!.jpg)
15 comments:
Woooosh...
As this post goes right over my head!!!!!!!
Dont get it.
aaah.
yup.
that about sums it up. a haiku which proclaims its own senselessness, i think.
Kahless,
Whern I heard/saw that noise, I assumed it was another deadline flying by....
Sorry. Haiku (how to guide here) is/are a Japanese poetry form which has a five/seven/five syllable structure. So they're pretty short, and it seems to me that a lot of bad ones get written (perhaps because it's the low energy approach to calling oneself a poet - they have got to be easier to write than a sonnet...)
So, I was chuffed to read the haiku on the t-shirt of the guy sitting opposite me on the tube - it almost made the journey worthwhile!
P.S Love the arrow pic on your blog. Most striking!
Mystique,
Hello. Welcome. In proclaiming its own senselessness, could this perhaps be the first sentient haiku?
That is unbelievably cool. I just ordered one.
That's very funny! Rounded off my Friday afternoon nicely!
But Why?, you dont strike me as a deadline misser; I reckon you love the challenge.
Glad you like the arrow pic. That is the arrow I broke using the force of my neck against the point.
Andrew F,
Hmmm... yes, I can see that might have tickled your fancy. But "unbelieveably cool"? How about: "rather cool in a slightly geeky way"?
Rob C,
Pleased to have been of service - do call again!
Kahless,
You're right - I do like a challenge. But there are challenes and challenges, and I've just about learned that if meeting a deadline means getting fewer than three hours sleep in a night, it's probably just about worth admitting defeat!
I'm sorry, Doctor, but this just won't do. In my book a Haiku has to have something in it about frogs, ponds and/or cherry blossoms. Refrigerator, my arse. Actually, that's quite a good line though I say it myself.
Absolutley the best...ever! N3S has competition. Do you read Scott Pack's blog? He loves this t-shirt company a lot too.
Signs,
How do you know that the refrigerator doesn't contain frogs and/or cherry blossom?
DJ,
I had to work hard not to laugh out loud on the tube (which of course would never do). I think N3S's particular brand of genius is safe for a while, yet. (And I'll be keeping an eye out for those "Don't be so velcro" t-shirts, should they ever be made available to a wider audience...
Refrigerator
Locked within your frozen womb
A deep utterance
(I thank you)
Signs,
Please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm probably not going to wear that one on a t-shirt...
And the refrigerator should probably not have a frozen womb. It sounds to me that the temperature is set too low. It'll do evil things to your soft fruits if you leave it like that.
A deep utterance? Why? Most of the things in the fridge should be dead. They shouldn't be uttering...
I think I'll return to being a Philistine - it's far less confusing than all this poetry business.
A pity, Dr. Why, it would look quite something on a T shirt.
A lot of people have fridges with freezers at the bottom. The frogs (and this was your idea) might be in there, uttering. This would have to be before they became frozen, obviously. But then when you heard them uttering you could let them out. And they all lived happily ever after.
A refrigerator poem for you. Too long for a T shirt though.
That is the best one i have read!!!
Signs,
It certainly would look quite something. My problem is that I wouldn't know what that something was, and would be at a loss when required to explain it. I think I might have to carry a copy of your explanatory prose around with me, but that's not really how it's supposed to work, is it?
Superb refrigerator poem. I think it would fit on a t-shirt, but then I might feel self-conscious if people tried to read all those words. I have the same problem with a sonnet t-shirt I wear. Really, it's very difficult to pull off successfully these sorts of sartorial gymnastics...
Casdok,
As ever, I'm delighted to be able to spread the joy.
Post a Comment