Poetry Friday--A Winter Haiga

On Wednesday, after two days of snow, the sun rose, the clouds cleared, and the sky was a brilliant blue. It was a lovely way to start my day. I snapped a photo from the library's parking lot. Then, like magic, a haiku popped into my head. After a little editing of both the photo and the haiku, I ended up with the haiga below.

*©Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Haiga is the combination of image (generally a painting or photo) and haiku (senryu, tanka, cinquain, or other short poem). My haiku buddy, Marnie Brooks, has been experimenting with haiga for a while now (you can see some of her work here). Despite having written haiku/senryu for years, I'm a relative newbie when it comes to haiga.

You may notice that I used metaphor in the haiku. Writers of haiku are generally advised not to use poetic devices. I usually don't, but the color of the sky called out--"Delft." I couldn't get it out of my head, it worked for me, and I think it works for the poem. As Katherine Hepburn said, "If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun."

You can find free photo editing at picnik.com. It's easy to use! I enjoyed working with it and will be going back soon to try adding text to more pictures. Look out haiga world--here I come!

Liz Scanlon, author of the recently announced Caldecott honor book, All the World (illustrated by Marla Frazee), is hosting this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up at Liz in Ink. Congratulations Liz!

*I also posted this haiga at 4 Seasons Haiku: Winter on Wednesday.