CynOp

The Cynical Optimist – Art, Poetry, Short Stories, Commentary, Photography

Flowers Real And Plastic

Flowers Real And Plastic

Flowers that are real
While some are colored plastic
Pollinators hum

–LE – 9/14/25

Still Life –LE – Watercolors on paper 9×12″

Liam Eddy

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10 responses to “Flowers Real And Plastic”

  1. Great haiku, Liam. Have you written them before, and I failed to notice?
    Nice still life as well. I envy how you can paint in a loose style. Seldom can I do that successfully. I focus too much on details and can’t seem to get past it. I’ve tried and tried most are utter disasters. 😣

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    Reply

    • Yes, I started writing them in ’98 when a poet I was hanging out with explained the rules to me, at least of the 17 syllable western variety. I’d read them for years, including those of Basho. I later learned from other teachers and ‘masters’ that the form is more flexible than I at first realized; that the 17 syllable format was based on English translations of Japanese Haiku. In Japan and China, it’s more about creating a feeling and picture with as few syllables as possible, usually from 9 to 14 or so in Japaese or Chinese…

      I’ve posted a few of mine over the time I’ve been posting here, usually with a drawing or painting I’ve done that I hope helps with the ambiance of the post…

      I’m pleased that you like this one (though not one of my best – IMHO). Most of mine are based on the seasons, which are less pronounced here in Tucson. So, I’ve not written very many since moving here. I used to try to reduce whatever I was thinking about into 17 syllables…; -)

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      Reply

      • I’ve been writing haiku for a couple of years. At first, I always followed the traditional 3-line, 5-7-5 syllable format, and confined the subject matter to seasons and nature. If it deviated from that theme, such as the human condition, I wrote the poem as a senryu. But, as the haiku evolved, not only in the United States, but in other countries as well, I saw the rules change–or tossed out the window. Now, it seems as if the only constant that remains is brevity and setting the poem in a moment of time.

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      • As you probably already know from reading me for a while, I’m absolutely anti-authority and rules…; -)

        So, even though I initially tried to work within the 3 lines and 17 syllables format, I eventually (after hearing other formulas for Haiku) decided that simpler is better and have applied that maxim to most of my writing. I don’t consider my writing, whether prose or poetry, to be any but ‘prose-poetry’. Anyone, everyone is better at form and substance poems than I. And that’s fine with me. I enjoy reading the work of those who, like you, are truly good at it…; -)

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      • Your poetry is uniquely you…that’s what I like about it. You throw the rules out the window and let what comes naturally flow. Though it seems to be the going thing there days, I’m not good at prose poetry; the closest I can manage is free verse. Like in painting, I can’t seem to loosen up.
        And thank you for your kind words regarding my poetry, Liam. 😊

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      • I’m pleased that you like my more or less formless ramblings… Yes, I thew out all the ‘rules’ so long ago that I can’t even remember the definitions of the forms by which you produce such beautiful artistry, so elegantly…; -)

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