Preface 

I started writing poetry because I could not draw what I saw in my head. I chose poetry because I would not have to deal as much with grammar. I wrote for about 8 or 9 years, pretty much non-stop. Then in early 2002 I stopped; I am still not really sure why.

Recently I decided that I needed more creativity in my life and I decided to start writing (because I still can't draw); and this is what I decided to do.

So why Haiku Western? I believe in the idea that limitations (in this case the structure of haiku) can be beneficial to the creative process; plus I spent an entire summer writing nothing but haiku and so it is a form I know pretty well.

I also like Westerns quite a bit and a lot of the movies in my head take place in that surreal/romanticized West created by the Silver Screen and dime novel western and their offspring.  I also have the theory that there are quite a few similarities between how we (Americans) romanticize the West and how Japan romanticizes the era of Samurai. So in my head I am using a Samurai form to tell a story of the West.

At the moment my plan is to write in a relatively strict "linked haiku" style, lines of 5-7-5-7-7-5-7-5 syllables, but I reserve the right to change my mind and explore more "Western" or "Freestyle" forms of haiku. I hope to use both formal, traditional feeling language mixed with "Old West" language and of course modern English. I hope this does not lead to a muddy feeling product, but I am sure I'll work it out. Haiku Western will be an ongoing story complete with narrative, complex characters, action and heartbreak (at least I hope so).

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy Haiku Western.