Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday July 8, 2022: Haiku Journal Sneak Peek

July 8, 2022 /
 
 

Haiku Journal Sneak Peek

Haiku Journal from Cognitive Surplus
 
My goal this year is to write a haiku every weekday. I’ve been experimenting with macrophotography. So I combined my daily haiku with my photography. Last week I finished an entire journal of haiku. 
 
Here’s a quick video preview:
 
 
 
 
If you like the specifics, here are a few:
  • I use this notebook from Cognitive Surplus. It’s a mini-hardcover, dot-grid journal. The hair tie is one I grabbed from the basket in the bathroom (didn’t come with the journal). It’s wrapped around it is to hold it closed because the pictures added a lot of bulk.
  • I wrote 137 haiku in this journal (January 3-June 24, 2022). Most of them were accompanied by a photo.
  • I use an HP Sprocket printer. It’s not perfect, but it’s worked for this little project.
  • I use a date stamper (think, old library stamp) to record the date.
  • I also record the location and the date of the picture. Often I’ll take pictures on the weekends–enough to get me through the week. I record the date and the location on a sticky note and put it on the back of the picture when I print them. When I write the haiku, I transfer that information by writing it next to the photo. 
  • There are sticky notes throughout. They indicate either that I used that poem and picture for a Poetry Friday post or I used to print it as a postcard (which I snail mail). Out of 137 haiku, I used 16 of them in Poetry Friday posts and 4 of them for postcards. So far, 117 haven’t been shown to anyone.
  • I’m typing up all of the haiku in my poetry Scrivener document. I’m tagging them with keywords in hopes that it will make them easy to search if I want to find what haiku I’ve written about a particular topic. 
 
I’m excited to start a new haiku journal next week!
 

Haiku of the Week

hidden in fern fronds

a spider hangs in green

seen then unseen

–Photo and haiku © 2022 Marcie Flinchum Atkins 

What I’m Reading

by Lee Kravetz
 
A few weeks ago, I talked about my “Spring Break of Sylvia Plath.” I finished the last book I bought about Sylvia Plath just before spring gave way to summer, so I feel like it still worked for the “Spring of Sylvia Plath.”
 
This book weaves a story inspired by real people and real events but fictionalized. It weaves multiple time periods and characters: Ruth Barnhouse, her doctor at McLean, where she was hospitalized as a young adult, Boston Rhodes’ POV (based on Anne Sexton) in Sylvia’s own time, and Estee a character who is involved in finding a home for early drafts of the Bell Jar in 2019. The characters do weave together, and I won’t spoil how.
 
I’m always fascinated by how historical fiction writers go about fictionalizing the lives of real people. The only thing I find missing in this book is an author’s note at the back. I would have loved to know more about the inspiration behind it, what snippets were real, and how he chose the characters to portray her life.
 
The whole book is centered around finding the manuscript of The Bell Jar, so even though I haven’t read that book yet, it makes me want to.
 

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19 Comments

  • Rose Cappelli

    July 8, 2022 at 9:58 AM

    I’m always amazed at the projects you have going, Marcie. Thanks for sharing your poetry as well as your process. You are an inspiration!

  • Mary Lee

    July 8, 2022 at 6:33 PM

    Thanks for the FAQs about your haiku journal! My first question was “How do you print those pictures?!?”…and you answered it! I may have to get a Sprocket printer!! Love your green spider poem.

    I’m thinking I may need to explore Scrivener. I’m writing more and need a good way to keep track of poems!!

  • Linda Baie

    July 8, 2022 at 7:16 PM

    Your organization is terrific, Marcie, having the pic printed right there in the journal with the words, prepping ahead for inspiration. I love taking nature pics, need to figure out more about the macro. I like the ‘green, seen, unseen’!

  • Elisabeth

    July 9, 2022 at 1:09 PM

    I am in awe of your dedication with your haiku project (and your organization! especially the tags in Scrivener for ease of searching later). I did a month of poems last October, mainlyl haiku or tankas, and I am full of respect for the commitment that a year (!) of similar dedication. But what a wonderful record you are creating of your year!

    Thank you for sharing your poems and your process with us!

  • Heidi Mordhorst

    July 10, 2022 at 3:10 AM

    Haiku IS hard–I’m writing one each day this month while I travel as a doable goal, and it’s challenging me. I love your little journal, appreciate your details, and would love to know more about Scrivener. I like it that you sleekly fit a rhyme into your spider haiku!

    • Marcie Flinchum Atkins

      July 10, 2022 at 9:17 PM

      Right now I’ve got all of my poems typed up in Scrivener. I made folders based on what different projects. I have a folder for haiku by each journal. I have a folder for my poetry group that is writing a poem a week. I have a folder for some of my older poetry. I also color-coded some of the poems: blue for poems I’ve used already on Poetry Friday posts, green for poems I’ve used to put on postcards, and purple for poems I’d like to consider revising and submitted somewhere.

  • Carol Varsalona

    July 11, 2022 at 12:19 AM

    Marcie, I find your haiku project to be industrious and engaging. Having photos with notes included in your journal is a great idea. I’d like to have an organizational system like yours to refer to quickly. The small printer sounds like a good idea for quick photos.

  • Linda Mitchell

    July 12, 2022 at 6:34 AM

    oooooh. I love your journal! I’m in to making journals these days. I’ve got one started now that I’ll be sharing once I get further along into it. There’s something so alluring about a journal. And, I do love “lost in green.” That’s a life goal of mine…to be lost in my favorite color.