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October 8, 2015

Poetry Friday--Workplace Haiku

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a winning entry for a haiku contest that is held every week, and has been going on for about a year. How did I not know about the "Workplace Haiku" challenge held at the Financial Times?

I clicked on the "Workplace Haiku" link and was able to read the haiku that are visible on the page, but when I tried to click on the links to the original posts, I was taken to a subscription page. Clicking out of that page brought me to the FT's home page, and then I was caught in an endless loop. I have absolutely zero interest in reading the FT, so, I'm not going to pay to subscribe. I imagine I can read each week's winning entry, but I won't be participating in entering the challenge, nor in reading the older posts. Ah, well.

I occasionally write about the workplace, so the challenge wouldn't be much of a stretch anyway (sour grapes anyone?). There's not a whole lot of nature going on in the workplace, with the exception of human nature, so it could should probably be titled a senryu contest (haiku format, but about human nature rather than Nature).


I checked through my files, and came across a number haiku related to my workplace, the public library. Here are a few:

4/07/09

library empty...
Red Sox opening day
or coincidence?


6/09/09

out of the corner
of the librarian's eye
a housefly


7/13/09

circ desk deserted
black bear outside
the library


12/17/09

library check-out
today all conversations
begin, "it's so cold..."


6/24/10

summer sunset--
the librarian shelves
poetry


9/14/11

librarians discuss
the best attended programs
--ghosts or aliens

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

I found another library haiku I had written for my Ku-dos to Emily project back in July 2014. I never put it together with an illustration, so, I'll do that for next week. Come back again!

Laura at Writing the World for Kids is hosting this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up.

29 comments:

  1. One can learn a great deal about libraries - and those inside them - by reading these!

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    1. Ya think? It's not all about the books anymore!

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  2. I love these, Diane! My favs are the black bear one and the Red Sox one. When the Vikings are playing is the only time Target's aisles are navigable on weekends! Happy Poetry Friday!

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    1. My kids go skiing on Super Bowl Sunday because the slopes are empty!

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  3. Wonderful to read them all, Diane. The idea is good from FT. Too bad it's not for everyone. I like the sunset/poetry one, imaginary the quiet late in the day.

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    1. I actually wrote that one to thank a fellow librarian who sent me her discarded copy of The Poetry of Robert Frost.

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  4. Love seeing all of these library poems together. Beautiful snippets of moments in your day. My faves are the summer sunset and the black bear :).

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    1. There was a black bear out back one day. We've also had deer, a fox, wild turkeys, and a variety of snakes!

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  5. Diane, THIS NEEDS TO BE A COLLECTION! Book and Library Senryu/Haiku. Do it!!!! (I love the sunset and shelves and poetry one best of all!) xo

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    1. I never thought of putting together a collection of library haiku. A very small chapbook perhaps?

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  6. Summer sunset...loved that one. And I agree with Irene - this needs to be a collection.

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  7. Always enjoy your haiku. I especially liked Red Sox opening day.

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    1. Librarians also have to learn to plan programs around sports finals! Boston and its environs (includes NH) is a big sports loving area.

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  8. I agree with Matt and Irene -- your haiku really do give a glimpse into library life, and they would make a great collection :-)

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    1. People would be very surprised to discover what goes on behind the scenes in libraries, though. Some still come in and say, "I always thought it would be a good job--you get to read all day!" Ha! I wish.

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  9. I particularly loved your black bear (funny) and summer sunset (beautiful) and am glad I got to catch these brief breaths of poetry - or mayhaps they're snippets of books.

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    1. Haiku are sometimes referred to as "one-breath poems"!

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  10. I love these, and agree they would make part of a lovely collection. I think the sunset/poetry one is my favourite.

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    1. We get some awesome sunsets up on the library's hill. Depending upon the time of the year, the light coming through the west windows washes the children's room with golden light.

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  11. Isn't it funny, the ways that poetry (and particularly an unschooled version of haiku) makes its way into corners of the culture? I got a campaign contribution request email from a local candidate with the subject line "haiku shakedown"

    True-Blue Progressive
    Faces Big Campaign Deadline
    Send your money now

    Needless to say, I contributed! Your workplace pieces are wonderful--the last two especially. Your view of the world is so specific and so wide.

    Also, I left a long reply to your comment on my post. Thanks for helping me clarify my thinking!

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    1. The co-opting of "haiku" for everything from politics to sports to hotel advertisements drives me wild. The form has become a joke. I have learned (but obviously not very well) to LET IT GO and just think of them as tiny syllabic exercises with no connection to the original haiku spirit. Oops, sorry, you got today's rant!

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  12. I'm another "summer sunset" fan - beautiful! And the Robert Frost backstory makes me smile. [ And don't get me started on what passes for haiku in popular culture... ]
    ;0). Thanks for sharing.

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  13. That first one. We love when OSU has home football games and the whole city empties for those of us non-fans to enjoy for ourselves! Front row parking places at the grocery store!

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    1. Another things librarians have to face--open house at the schools. We even lose staff members to those!

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  14. These are great, Diane. Add my preference of "summer sunset" to the list of favorites... not surprising, I suppose, given your readership. Still, it offers such a beautiful sense of being in the right place at the right time. I also really liked "out of the corner."

    So where's the haiku about your spider removalist service that I read about on Linda's blog?

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    1. Ha! I already have one, it goes along with a Dickinson poem, but I'll share it with you:

      spider...
      by default, the office
      bug catcher

      I actually like this one because it can be read two ways.

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    2. Well, thank you kindly. That just put a smile on my face!

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