Oulipian Haiku (inspired by Philip Terry)

Haiku in English often consist of 17 syllables distributed into 3 lines in a 5-7-5 pattern. Fascinatingly, this type of poem follows three prime number rules:

1. The total number of syllables is a prime number. (17)
2. The number of syllables in each line is a prime number. (5-7-5)
3. The number of lines is a prime number. (3)

An Oulipian Haiku follows the same three prime number rules, but you can vary the pattern. For example, 5-3-5, 3-3-7, 5-11-3, etc. Even 1-1 works! Here’s an Oulipian haiku that follows a 3-3-5-3-3 pattern:

Drifting dog
sniffing wolf
unexpectedly
meeting here
under stars.

For today’s Daily Create, write an Oulipian Haiku!

Note: This Daily Create was inspired by a Constraint-Based Creativity workshop on March 14, 2023, in which Philip Terry shared his work and guided participants through constraint-based creativity exercises.

Post your response to @[email protected] and be sure to include the hashtag #tdc4104

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