Haiku

The Haiku is a tiny verbal snapshot which takes the form of a short poem of 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively and which originated in Japan. The Healing Arts Trust invited people connected to Waterford Regional Hospital to write their own haiku about their experience of the hospital during Haiku Week. In this way, it produced, in words, a verbal snapshot of the hospital, from a range of perspectives, patients, staff and visitors. These haiku might reflect overheard conversations, descriptions of brief scenes of hospital life or the thoughts or emotions of the writer while in hospital. The Haiku were compiled into a publication entitled Did You Bring the Socks?  which was circulated throughout the hospital.

The following Haiku was written by John Kennedy:

You brought far too much.
What would I do without you?
Did you bring the socks?

Haiku week was part of poet Mark Roper’s residency at Waterford Regional Hospital.  Mark Roper is one of the most experienced Creative Writing teachers in Ireland and is well known to the people of Waterford.