Lol, I’m reading this as my dad is watching NASCAR. Good haiku for father’s day. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what it means…I think all good haiku should make you think a little to uncover the truth, eh? You’re saying your father thinks you’re stuck in a rut…that you need to take a new direction?
Well it’s more complicated than that, Anne, if only because my dad is no longer alive…
It also refers to a specific incident between me and my father from nearly 30 years ago, not that there’s any way a reader could ever know that. So I think, yeah, you have to make it mean what it means for you.
I think it’s interesting that you saw right away it was about a father — I was wondering if that would be obvious. 🙂 Maybe just because of the NASCAR thing…
yeah. you two must be on a sync-ed up wavelength. i didnt get father out of that at all. i saw it differently. more as two people who have known each other for a while but not necessarily a father daughter relationship.
what i find curious is that the idea applied to a human being seems slightly… negative…?? like the person is going nowhere fast. or repeatedly. except if you like racing, cars circling a track seems like it would be a positive image. of course all guys my not like cars racing endlessly…
okay. never mind. i may just be out of the loop here.
i agree that what inspires a writer is not necessarily needed by the reader to make the haiku worthwhile. and it is up to each reader to gain what they are able to gather from a ku. sometimes… it’s even possible that more than what the writer was aware of putting into a haiku is available for a reader as well… cool on that – imo.
Yes, it is actually supposed to be negative, Rick. 🙂 Or 😦 ? (And I don’t find it surprising that it didn’t seem like it was about a father to you, I don’t think that’s an obvious part of the ku and I didn’t really mean it to be.)
People are constantly seeing stuff in my haiku that I didn’t put there on purpose. They’re always right about it being there. (Even if I didn’t agree that they were right, they would be if it made sense for them.) I often wonder whether I’m seeing stuff in other people’s poetry that they didn’t put there …
I find it fascinating that no matter how carefully you plan a poem and think it through, and no matter how few syllables it has, there is always more in it to unpack than your conscious mind knows about.
Red Dragonfly 
Lol, I’m reading this as my dad is watching NASCAR. Good haiku for father’s day. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what it means…I think all good haiku should make you think a little to uncover the truth, eh? You’re saying your father thinks you’re stuck in a rut…that you need to take a new direction?
I quite liked this one. 😀
Well it’s more complicated than that, Anne, if only because my dad is no longer alive…
It also refers to a specific incident between me and my father from nearly 30 years ago, not that there’s any way a reader could ever know that. So I think, yeah, you have to make it mean what it means for you.
I think it’s interesting that you saw right away it was about a father — I was wondering if that would be obvious. 🙂 Maybe just because of the NASCAR thing…
yeah. you two must be on a sync-ed up wavelength. i didnt get father out of that at all. i saw it differently. more as two people who have known each other for a while but not necessarily a father daughter relationship.
what i find curious is that the idea applied to a human being seems slightly… negative…?? like the person is going nowhere fast. or repeatedly. except if you like racing, cars circling a track seems like it would be a positive image. of course all guys my not like cars racing endlessly…
okay. never mind. i may just be out of the loop here.
i agree that what inspires a writer is not necessarily needed by the reader to make the haiku worthwhile. and it is up to each reader to gain what they are able to gather from a ku. sometimes… it’s even possible that more than what the writer was aware of putting into a haiku is available for a reader as well… cool on that – imo.
the shadow
around this keyhole
a locked door
Yes, it is actually supposed to be negative, Rick. 🙂 Or 😦 ? (And I don’t find it surprising that it didn’t seem like it was about a father to you, I don’t think that’s an obvious part of the ku and I didn’t really mean it to be.)
People are constantly seeing stuff in my haiku that I didn’t put there on purpose. They’re always right about it being there. (Even if I didn’t agree that they were right, they would be if it made sense for them.) I often wonder whether I’m seeing stuff in other people’s poetry that they didn’t put there …
I find it fascinating that no matter how carefully you plan a poem and think it through, and no matter how few syllables it has, there is always more in it to unpack than your conscious mind knows about.
oh — I forgot to comment on your very, very cool haiku, which I will be thinking about all day now. 🙂