Haiku workshop #5 results

Hey everyone!

The results are finally in, apologies for the slight delay! Thank you all for participating in the haiku workshop #5!

The theme was "COIN"! A very pragmatic and materialist theme, which, as you'll see, produced some more serious and heavy haikus.

Let's check this out!

So... yeah. Lots to unpack here!

• The entries are all surprisingly... depressing. They depict a world where resource is scarce and competition everywhere. Everyone is obsessed with money, even the cattle only feeds on precious metals. The economy is so bad people sell their teeth, when they don't just turn against each other. Theft is an inescapable necessity to survive. Coolcoolcool.

• But there's hope! I mean, literally, the word "hope" was on the list. Surely it shed some light in this oppressive atmosphere? Well... Meh. "Hope" is mentioned in 5 haikus, but either as a remembrance of something lost, its direct contrary (unhope), or as a suppletive for "fear"; "hope to be fed" or "hope of not being stolen or attacked" is more about harm avoidance than actual hope. And as if it wasn't enough, the last nail in the coffin is put by this harsh, undeniable truth: "our hopes don't feed us". Nice.

• Soooo, has all been lost, with no salvation whatsoever? No, I think we can manage to find some scraps. For instance one haiku ends with a charming invitation: "won't you feed us tunes"? It evokes a desire for something else, a belief in human connection, a simple way that we can heal and nurture one another. That's true hope! (and a very welcome relief)

• Also, someone found a clever way to approximate the sound of police sirens by just juxtaposing "you" and "we" several times. It's so absurd (and hilarious) that it completely breaks the doom and gloom mood installed by the other poems. Thanks for that, fellow writer!

• Ok, let's take a step back now. First, I find it awesome that there's a shared consistency in all these haikus, despite all entries being different. It was also noticeable in previous workshops, so there's definitely a trend. It might be due to the wordset constraint, but I like to believe it might also be some kind of collective unconscious speaking, showing that we're all bound together by the times we live in more than we'd think. What's your opinion?

• I know word choice was heavily constrained, still I'm surprised by the popularity of the "tooth" theme, and by the crude anguish it's conveyed (fear of hunger, fear of loss, etc). Have you ever had a nightmare where you lose your teeth? I think there's a similarity here.

Phew, that one was something. Thank you all again and congrats for participating! As always, no doubt there's a lot more to unpack, but I don't wanna ramble for too long. If you want to extend the discussion, feel free to do so in the comments!

No workshop this month, as I'll be on holidays. See you in late August for the next one!

Till next time! MarechalBanane