Haiku By Thai English Majors

Recently I taught four of my six classes about poetry. Although there are one or two exceptional students in each class, for the most part the language level of English majors at this university is pretty abysmal. With this in mind, I taught them about the Haiku style of poetry. Haiku doesn’t require any rhyming or rhythm, it has only 3 rules:  three lines, seventeen syllables total, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second line, and five in the third line.

Traditionally, Haiku was written by Japanese poets about nature. So we started the exercise by making some word “banks.” We made one word bank of one-syllable words, trying to include connective words, pronouns, nouns, verbs and adjectives. I had them brainstorm and shout out words, but tried to keep the subject matter nature-based. Then we made another word-bank of two-syllable words. I gave them the structure to use. Then I left them to it.

I got really encouraged and excited whenever I looked up from my work and saw them all deep in concentration, looking off into space thoughtfully, mouthing words to themselves and counting syllables on fingers.  Then they started coming up to me and showing their poems to me to check if they’d gotten it right.  This enthusiasm was unprecedented.

Here are some of my favorites:

 

Sheep sleep under a tree

That sheep eat grass every day

In night they live field

 

I love my mother

And I love my old brother

I love family

 

A girl likes to swim

On a beautiful Sunday

She loves it so much

 

Frog eats the insect

It say “ob-ob” and jumping

Say loud when raining

 

I go to the sea

I swim with my family

And happy on sand

 

A frog have a green

I like it when swimming

It live in river

 

I go to Cha-Am

I swim with my grandmother

We are very fun

 

I love is snow

It’s cool I say “Ah ya ya”

Good luck snowing

 

It is a haiku

My teacher is beautiful

My nickname is Jane

 

I can go my home

I meet father and mother

I meet they so mush (yes, she did write “mush.”)

 

Haiku love river

Haiku have 4 leg live June

Haiku have big eye

 

My father handsome

My mother beautifully

I like badminton

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