Office Haiku
I first started writing Office Haiku in the summer of 2003. It was my first job out of college and every day was a new adventure. Meanwhile, at the same time, my now ex-girlfriend had started a job working for a second-tier magazine publisher. Her experience there was pretty much the trashier, not quite as hip New Jersey version of The Devil Wears Prada. Thus was born Office Haiku.
I had taken inspiration from Honku, a book of roadrage Haiku I came across at the Union Square Barnes and Noble one afternoon. Writing Haiku is quite therapeutic.
After a few months I was beginning to amass quite a collection of Office Haiku. I have well over one hundred now. I was planning on assembling the best and trying to shop it around to publishers. I didn’t.
In January of 2006, I came across an internet article about a new book forthcoming from James Rogauskas; he was publishing
I assume that one book of Office Haiku is more than the world needs and so have given up on the hope of ever publishing my own, superior collection. Rogauskas’s best Office Haiku are reprinted on Amazon as a promotional. In either case, my Office Haiku, the Original Office Haiku, are presented here.
I also ended up animating one of the Office Haiku. I think I met with both success and failure. You can view the results at Google Video.
the Original Introduction
What is an Office Haiku? Ancient Japanese poets created
the Haiku form of poetry as meathod of describing pastoral beauty.
Traditional Haiku conclude with a new observation or an epiphany.
When Haiku came to English, they were restricted to a syllabic pattern of 5,7,5.
Office Haiku employ the syllabic pattern 5,7,5 and conclude with an often humorous epiphany about the work place.
Example:
Hourly Wages
Fail to pay for gas and tolls.
Should have stayed at home.
This project has two sources of inspiration. First there is Honku by Aaron Naparstak. I came across this little book at a Barnes and Noble in New York City. Then I read Iain Levison’s memoir A Working Stiff’s Manifesto. I have to admit I picked up the book mostly because we shared a first name, but as it turned out the book contained some witty and insightful remarks on the work experience.