Haikus With My Daughter II

On By Jennifer PrestholdtIn Best of The Human Rights Warrior, Family, Girls Rights, Memoir, Parenting, Poetry, Weekly Challenges

DSC_0405

“I wrote a poem about you today,” I said.  “Well, just a haiku.  But actually, I wrote two.”

This caught my 8 year-old daughter’s attention.  She put down her Monster High doll, the one she just bought with money hard-earned from chores like scooping the cat’s litterbox.

“What’s a haiku?” she asked.  Apparently, they hadn’t yet covered this in her third grade class.

“It’s a kind of short Japanese poem.  It has three lines, with a total of only seventeen syllables.  The first line is five syllables, the second is seven and the third is five.”

As she read my haikus, I said,  “I wrote about you, but  usually haikus are about nature.”

“Like about animals?”

“Sure.  ‘Animals’ is three syllables, so you need two more for the first line.  Then seven, then five.”

“Syllables, like beats in music?”

“Exactly.”

She didn’t even pause to think.  She launched right in.

“Animals live in …”

“You’re doing it!  You’re writing your very own haiku!  Now seven syllables. Where do animals live?”

“Jungle, forest and…”   She counted out the syllables on the five fingers of her right hand.   Then two more on the fingers of her left hand.  She had painted her fingernails in an alternating pattern with red and blue nail polish.  Red, blue, red, blue, red, blue, red, blue, red blue.

“City? Ocean?”

“That’s great!  Which one?  Ocean or city?”

“Nature everywhere.”

“You did it!  You wrote your own haiku!”

She smiled – a small, proud smile – and then she picked up her doll again.

“That was really good.  Let me write it down.   Can you say it again?”

She shrugged, engrossed in brushing the doll’s hair.

“I forgot it already,” she said.

“But I’m your mom and I will always remember,”  I thought.

Haiku by Eliza

Animals live in

Jungle, forest and city.    (or ocean)

Nature around us!

This post, Haikus With My Daughter , Thanksgiving and Haikus With My Daughter III: Girls Rights are in response to the WordPress Weekly Writing Challenge.

63 thoughts on “Haikus With My Daughter II”

  2. Pingback: Ra and Man | The Arkside of Thought

  3. Pingback: Haiku: Challenge Accepted | Rob's Surf Report

  4. Pingback: Haiku: Traditions | Rob's Surf Report

    1. outaboutmum

      The poems little people write are amazing, we are currently writing weather poems in school…. So much fun especially after we have been outside getting soaked! Lol

      Like

      Reply

  5. Pingback: Haiku: Cycles | Rob's Surf Report

  7. Pingback: Haikus With My Daughter | The Human Rights Warrior

  8. Pingback: Weekly Writing Challenge: Haiku / Bubbles | A mom's blog

  9. Pingback: Haiku: Voices | Rob's Surf Report

  10. Pingback: Weekly Writing Challenge: Haiku / Innocence | A mom's blog

  11. Pingback: Thanksgiving | The Human Rights Warrior

  12. Pingback: Haiku: Absolute | Rob's Surf Report

  13. Pingback: Haikus With My Daughter: Girls Rights | The Human Rights Warrior

    1. I hope she will, one day. The way I see it, documentation is part of my job as a parent. But i’m better at writing it down than I am at putting things in a scrapbook. Thanks so much for stopping by and for your comment!

      Like

      Reply

  21. Nothing can beat a mother who inspires poetry in a child. Your daughter is very lucky to have you. I empathise with her as my mother spent lots of time playing word games with us and we have never forgotten those precious times.

    Like

    Reply

  35. Pingback: Arts And Haiku – allaboutlemon-All Around, In, And Out Of My Own Universe

Everyone has the right to an opinion and I'd love to hear yours! While comments are very welcome, they will be moderated. My kids read this blog, too!