How to Write Haibun

Inspired by Basho's travelog and Issa's mystic irreverence, I wondered if I, too, could write such timeless and picturesque poems “on the road.” So I joyfully jotted a few sentences, some short lines from time to time, as unique and poignant characters and occasions arose. 

Turns out haibun isn't hard at all. It's actually easy and fun to write! I know our experience is unique, precious and beautiful—perhaps it’s transpersonal!—and so we write in a playful form that others might see as well.

Haibun is a vivid personal experience or sequence of events written in a prosimetric vernacular: an episodic autobiography, travelog, or essay combining prose and pop-style poetry in literary fusion. Writing haibun is a contemplative practice that requires training the mind as much as working within a traditional, literary form.

This article can be used as a source for an ocean of haibun, an accessible and traditional literary form. To begin:

1. Familiarize oneself with contemplative practice 
2. Learn a few basic tenets of prose and poetry 
3. Practice prosimetrics, literary fusion.

Engage the prompt at the end of the article and write haibun to your heart's content.

Haibun Traveling: Japanese to Plain English 

Many of the greatest poets of yore were travelers. Matsuo Basho, in Oku no Hosomichi’s "The Narrow Road to the Interior" arrives home after traveling for a season along the shores only to become restless again desiring to go beyond, to see more. He sells his house to traverse the "Deep North" leaving a little haiku hanging on the mantle. This act in and of itself is the first haibun of his book. 

Great Japanese classics such as Basho's have crossed oceans of culture and context: from Medieval Buddhist, Shinto, and Confucian foot-paced sensibilities each with  their ideal prosodies translated and yet transcreated since Modernity into plain English prose and poem. 

Now with the parabolic rise in media forms and instant messaging and publishing across the web as we know it, is there something, anything about haibun that remains the same? After all, the sun and moon themselves have traveled incessantly, relentlessly, and still by nature shine.

What matters in haibun—then and now—is personal experience. And what really matters in haibun is a person's inner transformation through seeing, processing, and relating their experience.

• Personal experience is a MUST HAVE. It can't be made up! That's why getting up off the couch and actually going somewhere—seeking something—has become the topic of so many haibun; personal experience is inevitable through traveling. People and places are vivid and fresh in the mind during a good traveling, rambling adventure. Experiences even have the flavor of happening spontaneously and, whether happy or sad, a sense of auspicious coincidence.

Form from Scratch: Materials to Write Haibun

Whilst out and about having experiences, it's good to carry a pocket notebook and pen; occasions often arise when critical details must be copied and/or shared on the spot. Of course the ubiquitous smartphone can do that too, if only by voice dictation and/or deft thumbs on tiny touchscreens. Conversely, the old-fashioned version of pen and paper has its own analog charm, an enhancing somatic quality transmitting through a much different set of neural pathways. However it's done key details, direct quotes, and names of people and places must be remembered.

Some people may be able to compose their haibun on the go in a simple pocket log. Others may not bother writing things down in the moment, but contemplate them later and form them carefully in the quiet solitude at desktop with wild punches on a typewriter's leveraged keys. 

At the end of the day what's important are the details of personal experience. If they can't be remembered, face it; they're probably not worth writing. Memorable, adventurous experiences – the stuff of travelogues, the stories told over dinner and good drink – make great source material for haibun to come. 

Having had some experience, and perhaps having taken some notes, now it's time to actually compose a formal haibun. 

This is where the contemplative practice begins.

Wait a minute... we were just getting started to write a formal haibun, and now it's time to think? Indeed, one could contemplate why there are so few examples of haibun actually remembered to this day. Perhaps this is because the haibun that stand the test of time are crafted by seasoned masters of contemplation, meditator-writers who consider the whole of the Three Worlds and human experience precious and extremely rare, worthy of sharing and celebration.

Topics for Contemplation: Haibun as a Practicum for Inner Development

Contemplation is an iterative process, meaning the experience or learning is considered again and again; each iteration adds significant depth, finer analyses, and emotional integration into one's personal continuum.

• How do I know my experience is real?
• What about my experience should be written? What shared?
• Who has interest in what I write about myself?

How do I know my experience is real? "Don't worry, it's not. It’s just a personal meme getting a rise out of me."

The view consists of a twofold selflessness: (1) selflessness of self, (2) selflessness of other. Selflessness of self means that as a collocation of the four main elements (earth, water, fire, wind), and five heaps (form, feeling, perception, formation, consciousness) are really but an amalgamation of things, subject to change. Subjects change. 

Selflessness of other means objects change too. Names and identities are moot/miss the mark when the “all” is burning in flux. Thus nothing exists, much less is a person real.

The luminous detail that shines amidst all the emptiness sets itself apart, becoming informative  feeding the eye, the ear, and intellectual consciousness. Feedback loops approximate and iterate on empty mirages in the sense faculties and are mirrored as memes, mimed from one person to the next in illusion’s net.

What about my experience should be written? What shared? "All to one. One to all."

All of one's experience should be written for one's own simple compliment and personal gratification…as if no one's looking and as if no one's reading. "Scribbled secret notebooks and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy," as Jack Kerouac says.

If the urge arises to share one's secret words, then ask, “what among this writing is my own personal gratification chatter and what comes from gnosis? What among this writing is absorptive, speaking to a greater world interconnected in variegated jewels' light?” Expand on the absorptive, gnostic lines and share that which is really the matter.

Who has interest in what I write about myself? "The seen and unseen stake claims in correlative-arising's expanse."

Personal experience necessarily makes others the objects of our senses yet subjects of our memories. People and places are ultimately subjective in our little non-fiction narratives. Again, they don't really exist.

Yet naming any person or place, by nature, bears an automatic responsibility to uphold the vision, mission, and reputation of the given subject. In other words, the brand must be furthered to grow sustainably in peace, glory and renown. Haibun is not a place to belittle or complain. All the subjects in the play are to be treated as holy representations of blessed creation.

This is a given for the obvious subjects, the people and places with names. But there are also unseen beings who must be considered in order to complete the worldview of haibun in the most formal and respectful way. Consider the Three Worlds (Subterranean, Earth, and Heaven) and who else is present, watching, even assisting in our travels, who else is active in shaping our own subjective narrative, and show them the respect of our contemplation and care. 

Even seemingly inanimate objects such as rocks and bridges, cairns and streams may have sentience if we only had the senses for perception to notice. As William Blake says, "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite." Respectfully consider all species and classes of sentient beings. Whether they are explicitly mentioned or not, the world of haibun will be the better for it.

Prosimetrics: Haibun as Literary Fusion

Inspired Flow of Prose + Profound Leap of Poetry = Literary Fusion Haibun

Haibun is a formal hybrid of prose and poetry. The form itself isn't set in stone, it's more of an adaptable play, the telling of a story with its highlights being punctuated by some complementary poems.

Let's discuss some principles of prose and poetry respectively, then practice fusion to form haibun.

Principles in Writing Haibun Prose

PROSE: Merriam Webster calls it, "a literary medium distinguished from poetry especially by its greater irregularity and variety of rhythm and its closer correspondence to the patterns of everyday speech". 

Some principles to consider while writing prose:

• Is it varied and natural, as in everyday speech?
• Are its sentences complete with appropriate punctuation and grammatically correct?

Is it varied and natural, as in everyday speech?

‍"It's just like we talk. Sometimes short, sometimes long. The cadence is a match to the movement of story and emotion."

Catch yourself talking to your loved one or friend; how does speech vary whether passionate, calm or annoyed? Whether telling an elaborate story of a recent adventure, or pontificating on what's right and good, the pattern of breath corresponds to an emotional state and translates to the cadence that gets a message across.

When writing the prose of haibun, then, remember the emotion behind the story or the emotional quality of the subject being portrayed. Similar to what Kerouac says, "Don't think of words when you stop but to see picture better".

For instance, at the meditation retreat, replete with all its awareness and long breaths, the sentences could be cool and flowing, encompassing of all: a single image. On the other hand, an adventure tale's sentences could vary rapidly with many characters, their quotes being flashed to and fro.

Are its sentences complete with appropriate punctuation and grammatically correct?

‍"Grammar is interpretable; let the sentence stand on its own."

While there are all kinds of grammar rules and uses of punctuation to explore, what's most important is consistency among the sentences and paragraphs of a given text. 

For instance, if the haibun's prose is being written in the first person—featuring "I"—don't revert to telling the reader what "you" should do (unless, of course, someone says "you" in a direct quotation).

Similarly, pay attention to verb tenses. Many episodes of haibun have taken place in the past, but this does not dictate the tense of the prose. In fact, a personal experience of the past could be written as if it happened in the present. In this case, make sure the verbs used do not revert to the past, or leap to the future (again, unless it is an italicized thought or direct quote that carries its own contextual tense). Consistency is key.

Finally, experiment with some punctuation outside of one's comfort zone. The comma could be used in almost every case in which a pause is warranted; while a semicolon has its own features that set it apart. The colon is a pretty hard stop: a matter of fact follows. Hyphens conjoin multiple-words-to-one while the em-dash abruptly cuts off a clause— so many forms of punctuation -– (parentheses too)— it really is difficult to concisely explain them all!

Principles in Writing Haibun Poetry

POETRY: Apart from the most distinguishing feature of poetry — the writing of metrical verse — Merriam Webster's second definition rings most true in haibun, "writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm". 

In haibun, poetry typically follows the form of haiku (for a full tutorial on writing haiku, click here). Short of the complete haiku tutorial, and so that the poems` integrated in haibun would not be limited to haiku itself, let's consider some of the broader points of the poem.

• Is the poem imaginative and based in experience?
• Does the poem evoke emotion, i.e. does it move?

Is the poem imaginative, and based in experience?

‍"I see things a little differently. Honest! I'm not making it up!"

An experience could be told in a new way, such as through metered verse and rhyme, but a more distinguishing and contemplative aspect of poetry is actually seeing a given phenomenon from a unique and imaginative perspective and portraying that perspective accurately in verse. It's not so much like fantasizing with the imagination as using the senses to discover some hidden meaning and/or correlations among things.

Verse can be free or metrical. It doesn't so much matter in poetry since it's inherently imaginative. For instance, an image (the root of imagine) can easily be described according to shape and color, whether it's moving or still. But to imagine is to see more than a thing's mere face value: it's relation among other things seen/unseen; its emotional effect within the observer; its potential to transform.

Imagine, as it were, something so complex in something so small as a haiku! A contemplative and aware mode of real-life experience is absolutely necessary to capture and portray such an imagination. 

Does the poem evoke emotion, i.e. does it move?

‍"The reading eye darts across and down each line to the end; the soul is stirred to be part of the poem's legacy."

Emotion simply means movement. Regarding feelings, in the human body there are movements of hormones and neurotransmitters from organs to the brain and back down throughout the body in a continual feedback loop.

Emotion in poetry should mimic this process that takes place in the body. The poem itself should move the reader through each line so they get a hint of the feeling themselves. A good and resonant feeling will prompt a feedback loop or contemplative process that beckons multiple readings. 

The ultimate evocation of emotion would be that the reader gradually moves to transform their life in a responsive feedback to the poem. Great poems actually do change lives! Think about Basho's famous travelogue; the itinerary adapted from The Narrow Road to the Interior is followed by travelers to this day...dare I say it's even become a sacred pilgrimage for some!

Prosimetric Writing Prompt: Fusion in Practice

Now, knowing the principles of prose and poetry, let the imagination do the rest.

• Write a few sentences detailing a vivid experience of recent memory.
• Take leaps into various sentence structures and punctuations.
• Take a further leap into a little poem: perhaps a rhyming couplet or "pop" haiku. 

Ezra Pound, a central figure in the Imagist poetry movement of the Modern period, calls the Image, "an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time."

The details and analyses that are part of haibun are made meaningful by emotion. When an artist integrates both thoughts and feelings in the contemplative process, a 'complex' emerges. At the moment of modulating from prose to poetry, the complex is portrayed in that instant of time. 

The ultimate punch-line is satori— so shoot for instant enlightenment!

Are the language and forms complementary to their surroundings?

‍"Keep the language, tone and style consistent so modulation agrees: it's a fusion, not confusion."

Modulate some prose into a little poem that highlights the most luminous detail or potent feeling in recent memory. A paragraph plus two or three lines of poetry are typically complimentary because perspective shifts along with form. A wider perspective makes haibun all the more relatable, relevant and moving to readers.

"When the mode of the music changes, the walls of the city shake." - Plato

On the other hand, say a paragraph-long character sketch were followed by an intensive, rhyme-dominated sonnet or repetitive thirty-nine line long sestina. Would one form or the other of prose or poetry seem out of place? 

Be considerate in combining poetry with prose. The poem is usually more condensed, or smaller, in size. Sometimes a long-form ballad in rhyme narrates better than prose but a two-sentence colophon in prose might just suffice. In the end, consider practicing fusion so that each of the featured elements require a manageable amount of attention on the part of the reader.  

Remember: just as verb tenses and literary person must remain consistent within prose and poetry respectively, so too, consider consistency with regard to modulations/fusions.

Form Follows Function: Haibun for the Modern Day

Prose and poetry are ends of a spectrum. Such examples of prose poetry that very well may appear in haibun are a result of modern sensibilities that naturally blur the lines. 

Labeling a piece of writing as haibun or haiku – prose or poetry – to be included in this or that collection or that canon is not really important at the end of the day. Honestly, there are so many fusions and adaptations of world literary forms that historians a hundred years hence will be the ones to possibly make sense of it all.

What matters, again, is meaningful personal experience. Honor each one by writing according to the form that feels right. This article has explained how to write haibun, a convenient name for the experiential episodes of life. 

Further Practice for Goodness

Please do guard the 3 Doors of Speech. 

Ask oneself throughout the process: 

1. Is it true? 
2. Is it kind? 
3. Is it relevant? 

Guarding against degeneration in the world, writing from here on out should exhibit positive virtues at all costs. 

Being honest, others perceive the truth.

Being kind, others perceive love.

Being not so frivolous with words, others perceive meaningful speech.

Enjoy!