Poetry Friday--Haiku Places

Haiku Laureate is yet another automated site that is available to those who think that 3 lines of 5-7-5 syllables make a haiku. This site has an interesting twist--it bases its word choices on geographic location.

The explanation of how the haiku generator works, however, is much more interesting than the "haiku" that are produced. Here are three that were generated when I used the location "New Hampshire":

the riley zoee park
weekend visit at winant
a thanksgiving lons

of his couch playing fan
in birthday some ceiling up
on shot looking with

and room stream macro
back mirror out another
from night condo trees

Say what? Not one line makes sense whatsoever. Other than "trees" there is nothing at all recognizable as "New Hampshire." And, trees are found in all 50 states, so they're not NH-specific at all, really.

The results are a little better when a location is more explicit. Here are the results I obtained when I used my address in Salem, NH:

canobie lake park
and yankee olivia
on jillian round

the cannonball up
emily kayleigh wheel
giant flower jen

sherri kiddie log
power tiltawhirl frisbee
a waiting dave ride

Canobie Lake Park is an actual place in Salem (not far from my home), but, despite the amusement park-type words--cannonball, tiltawhirl, ride--none of the three "haiku" comes close to being a poem, or even making sense.


I was indirectly challenged by Haiku Laureate to come up with haiku about my neighborhood that would put sherri kiddie log in its place--the virtual trashcan. And, being that Haiku Laureate has determined that the only thing worth note in my town is Canobie Lake Park, I will use it as my subject. Here are my three:

summer evening--
roller coaster screams
on the wind

fireworks begin
not even the cat takes notice
--summer saturday

11:15 pm
the silence after the park
closes

The Stenhouse Blog is the site of this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up. Check it out!


Photo by martin.jessica