1.What is you personal/aesthetic relationship to the poetic line? How do you understand it,use it.
I try to follow the William Carlos Williams dictum of
“utterance”when writing Haiku or tanka. Williams defined utterance as the length or duration of the human breath or exhalation.The ancients termed the god’s sacred breath as pneuma. A breath that could infuse humankind with prophecy, wisdom and confer blessings. Short poetry,especially haiku, seems to have this magical incantatory quality.
My haiku are normally structured in the 3-5-3 syllabic line count (tanka 3-5-3-5-5). This strict syllable number is an ideal that I can’t always achieve, however, the shorter the better is always my preference.
I have always liked terse pithy statements,such as the
aphorism, apothegm, maxim and bon mot etc. Haiku is an extension of this brevity of speech with the additional extra of giving the reader the ability to read between the lines and intuit new
information from what isn’t said. Good haiku invest negative space with meaning.
2. Do you find a relationship between words and writing and the human body writing and your body?
Focused and sharpened attention is the main side benefit I derive from writing. A haiku mindset demands acuity of all the senses to attune the entire body to the extraordinary that can be found in mundane day to day occurrences. Writing with a kinesthetic mind and body awareness reveal relationships, linkages and interconnections that are not normally apparent.
3. Is there anything you dislike about being a poet?
I regret that after an infatuation with poetry as a student I banked the fires in early and middle age and waited much too long to rediscover and rekindle this passion.
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Some haiku:
II the neighborhood • old broken men • walk tiny dogs II
II blue moon frosts • the withered boxwoods • tints midnight II
II along the tracks • hobo signs on fence • blink with fireflies II
II a woodpecker • circles the tree • crabwise II
II dragonfly eyes • constant ruby glow • stained glass window II
II stepping stones • string of fallen moons • on bright night II
II colored beach ball • on silent bounces • down empty street II
Terry Ingram is a retired advertising writer-producer-director. Writing Haiku, Senryu, Haibun and Tanka since 2000. Born and raised in southern Illinois. Attended the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. Now resides in Texas – USA
