[split] Snow where else to be (in February)

[Leanne]

It's interesting you mention sonnets in comparison -- I have always thought that sonnets and haiku basically function in the same way. Both are contemplative; both have a definite volta; both are precise, in a form that has evolved over centuries so that, when followed, the words draw upon the tradition and become more than the scribblings of free verse or extemporised rhymes. I have also found that when one writes in English, every writer who uses another language will say "you cannot do the same in English as you can in Mylanguagese." Perhaps this is true, but then so is the reverse in that case, and yet you'll still find those Mylanguagese writers using forms popularised by the English and using them with alacrity. Are English speakers somehow less capable?

I cannot write a haiku in Japanese -- but I'll warrant that neither can many Japanese people. I write sonnets in English, but the majority of English speakers are bamboozled by the concept. For heaven's sake, right here on this site we see evidence that people can't even write a basic limerick!

The Japanese tradition of haiku is not diminished by its English language modifications and contemporary hybrids any more than traditional Mexican food is made less awesome by Taco Bell. Poetry is not ruled by some kind of appellation d'origine contrôlée. It is a dynamic, living and constantly shifting art that is not in any way assisted by the "thou shalt not" brigade.