The November Haiku and Seventeen Syllables

Last year, 2011, I set out to honour Barbados' 45th anniversary of independence through poetry. I, however, did not want to write a typical poem of tribute, like an epic or a sonnet, but I also did not want to fall into the cliche of a free form bajan, sing song NIFCA type piece. This is when I came up with the idea of haiku. I would write 45 haiku to commemorate 45 years of independence. I wrote four.

This was actually quite a normal thing. I would start a project and lose momentum, or just give up on it. My tribute to my country ended up as four haiku written in a little leather bound journal. Sadder still, three of them reference the trident clearly indicating a singular focus and inspiration - a tattoo on my back. I had a fascination with the broken trident for part of 2011, and designed a tattoo where the trident appeared to actually be broken and not just to be cleanly cut as it appears on the flag.

Blue, yellow and blue.
Dismantled Union Jack;
trident now broken.

Look upon my back,
a broken broken trident.
True independence.

For want of a broken trident
I broke the trident into pieces.

These fields and hills are
beyond recall - gone away.
Their vacation homes.

These are the four. 

It is 2012. I decide to complete the tribute and I code name it #project17. I began working on it in October. I wrote down as much things related to Barbados as I could. From musicians and artist, to food and drinks, sunsets, historical information, things related to the Barbadian/Bajan culture, politics, etc. I began to actually develop the project from just a whim, into an actual working project. I began to think now, not just of writing  the 46 haiku - it was 2012- but also about what to do with them once I was finished, how would I put them out, would I put them out to the public at all? Initially I just wanted to write the haiku and I did not have any intention to put them in the public domain. The thought had not even crossed my mind. Now, a year later, I was thinking about putting them together in a small book format, 4 inches by 6 inches. I had conceptualised a cover and an introduction to the collection. This had gotten beyond the point of being an idea and was actually beginning to breathe.

This project was very important for me, but not because it was a tribute to my country. The completion of #project17 and the evolution of "The November Haiku and Seventeen Syllables" represents a journey completed. I had started many projects and have fallen through on a lot of them, and with this one I have actually finished it. The finishing of this is what is important to me, not so much the actual poetry nor the tribute to Barbados.

Here is the complete incomplete work: The November Haiku and Seventeen Syllables (I have to finish the cover and add page numbers)

     

Some good old Adrian Green to wrap it up.

Peace and love family.


ps. The blog might be back up and running soon; cannot make promises at this point in time.