Philadelphia Reflections

Terse Verse: Haiku by Tom Howes

New book of Haiku, by Tom Howes

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Introductioon to Haiku

Introduction to Terse Verse

Haiku is brief, so let's be Brief.

We live in an ocean of words and information that demands our attention and often threatens to drown us. To combat this we must sort out the news and knowledge to determine what is important and what should be discarded.

One way of fighting this onslaught is to be more selective to what we hear and what we read. It is difficult if not impossible to read every word or every article in a newspaper. Instead we usually scan the headlines and then choose. In business, executives pick the summaries and skip over the details. In reading a book, the plot is better remembered, as the characters and descriptions fade into the background. With Haiku, it's so brief, you often must read it twice to "get" it.

In literature poetry presents ideas in a more compact form, fitting the thoughts in an appropriate format. Sometimes those thoughts can appear complex like a code that must be cracked. Other times the poem is much more simple and is more quickly understood. Rhymed or unrhymed, whether Haiku, sonnet,or blank verse, poems must be able to establish a connection between the writer and the reader to communicate ideas.

In Terse Verse the format boils down to presenting ideas and observation on human behavior and American culture using idioms, puns, and wordplay that can be easily read and enjoyed. The key to effectiveness is simplicity and the key to simplicity is brevity. And that is what Terse Verse is about in a nutshell.

The Index is Just a List of Guideposts.

Buisness Brief

Car Senses

Culture Shocks

Family Manners

Food for Thoughts

Good Sports

L-O-V-E

Modern Times

Money Matters

Mortal Fears

Personal Problems

Pet Projects

Politics as Usual

Shopping Talk

Social Scenes

Stage Frights

Vanity Fares

Wordly Ways

Write or Wrong

Last Laughs

Haiku Intro Vol II

Clue One : TV
Clue two: Trs Vrs
Answer: Terse Verse
Welcome!

People love riddles
They feel good once they learn the solution
They feel even better when they can solve them by themselves
That "Got It" moment is priceless

People love simplicity
Shorter means sweeter
Purging unnecessary details leads to efficiency
Be brief - Be sharp - Make the point

People love humor
Jokes linger as speeches fade
Twists, turns and twitter bring laughter to the human comedy
Memories treasured are often found is small everyday happenings

Here for your reading pleasure is Terse Verse
Poems of 32 short words in 16 rhyming lines
Observations of everyday life
Written for nurturing your smiles - Pun my word

Best regards,
Tom