Tweeku

You all know that I enjoy haiku (The Joy of Haiku). Several years ago, I found that haiku fit very well within a text message…so well in fact that I almost prefer it. And it turns out that it fits well with Twitter’s tweets, too. But are haiku too last millennium for us? Could we construct something more in tune with modern life while also paying homage to tradition?

As you know, the American English standard for haiku is to put something together in a structure of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. We ignore some of the beauty of haiku by focusing so much on the structure.

I propose that we not worry about the structure so much. Instead, use short sentences and finish with some nature reference or allusion and end with the #tweeku hashtag. Let me use some example tweekus that I’ve recently twittered to test this out:

• Not like us? Madness! Here’s math proof: = <> = ; and yet, A == ~A. Dogma has eaten the brains first. Zombie politics. Rain falls. #tweeku
• Bought a new vacuum. Mother compelled to clean the carpets, even when they are clean. Patient waters carve canyons. #tweeku
• Food heating in the pan. Sugars caramelize, fats sizzle. But I don’t eat meat. Chicks tweet for worms. #tweeku
• IMing. I’ve done the TALK since the early computer days. Still think it’s nifty. Rose petals launch in wind. #tweeku
• Vacuum bought. Assembled. Vacuum tested. Disassembled. Returned to store. Rocks anointed by rain. #tweeku
• Coaches perched on the bench. Eggs to nestlings to fledglings to flight. Cheers and tears. Find another nest. #tweeku

As you can see, the message can be as poetic, prosaic, sublime, or mundane as you like, but you need to end with the Nature bit. Whether it is actually related or not is immaterial. There is the thought that whatever you write will at least subconsciously relate the the previous bit of tweet and thus have resonance.

In any case, I have fun with them, and I will likely post them off-and-on from here on out (you can follow @terpcj to keep up with my nonsense, if you wish). If you want to add a little pizazz to your tweets, give it a try.