Sweet Maiden (Hay(na)ku).

by Steven Beesley   Jun 6, 2012


Pulse,
is racing
as eyes meet.

My sweet maiden,
I love
thee.

The Hay(na)ku Verse Form, a 21st century poetry form. Invented by poet Eileen Tabios, who is also publisher, Meritage Press. Officially inaugurated on the Web on June 12th, 2003 (Philippine Independence Day). The form spread through the Web to poets all over the world. Eileen Tabios initially called the form "the Pinoy Haiku". Vince Gotera proposed the name "hay(na)ku", and this name has stuck. This corresponds to a Tagalog phrase that means roughly "Oh!" or (in Spanish) "Madre ". The last syllable is pronounced "ko" so maybe the final name will be even more independent of "hayku": "hay(na)ko".

In a traditional Hay(na)ku, there are: A tercet: 3 lines. A total of 6 words: 1 in the first line, 2 in the second line, and 3 in the third line. There is no restriction on syllables or stressed or rhymes.

Variations:

In the 'reverse' haynaku, the longest line is placed first and the shortest last. The total is still 6 words: 3 in the first line, 2 in the second line, and 1 in the third line. Multiple hay(na)ku can be chained to form a longer poem. There are other variations also.

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Latest Comments

  • 11 years ago

    by Meena Krish

    Hmm..interesting form! Thanks for the explanation of it too. Its like a short sweet message to the loved one with just a few words.
    Your write reads smoothly with a touch of rhyme that makes it lovely...excellent write!