AtoZ Theme Reveal: Dark Haikus

Dark poetry is the use of dark and often negative themes in a poetic manner.

A dark poem to most people is one that describes the negative side of life, such as depression or phobias or nightmares.

I love the simple metrics and the ability of expressing so much in such a tiny piece of poetry. I want to experiment a darker way of writing haikus. Therefore, I´ve rated this month´s blog posts as adult, due to the topic of mourning, which could be unsettling, or sensitive to many.

Worldbuilding again. Inside my WIP, Aroura, the living World, there´s Nightwing, a gothic band, who plays the darkest songs, called Poes, just like their famous tragic poet. Causing furor on the youths, who feel themselves more indentified with those topics than those than older generations, who sing about romance, love of nature, and praise to the Goddesses. These new generations are living tumultuous days, with the fear of war and the beginning of an industrial era providing new topics to expand their way of thinking. But the latter, next to the more modern protest songs, will have to wait for another time.

According to my current mood, many – if not all – of the haikus will be of a darker nature, singing about long lost love, betrayal and elegy poems.

Is the third try the lucky one? There´s only a way to know. I have tried twice the April A to Z Challenge, and failed. All throughout March, I´ve been torn between participating in AtoZ, joining NaNoCamp, or letting it be, as I´ve been physically and mentally exhausted.

Taking care of a special needs kitten had been challenging; losing her to cancer was the last straw. I won´t deny it, depression and stress sent me to the ER with the worst migraine spell ever, and a week of slow recovery.

Jaspe was my daughter´s kitty, but the baby of the family and my daily companion. As her illnes advanced, my daughter and I devoted out time and energies to the titanic task of caring for all her needs. And in our free times, we would bake cookies to raise funds to pay her treatments. Therefore, as our wake ended, I found myself without a goal, without a task, lacking the will to neither start a new writing project, nor to finish old ones.

For, what can you do when suddenly your hands are empty? When the sorrow creates a black hole that grows inside your chest?

I´ve always known that it´s true what people say, that the loss of a beloved pet is as profound as the loss of a close relative.

Anyway, i would have stayed still away from social media and april writing challenges if it weren´t for two reasons: the need of keeping myself busy to avoid falling deeper into depression, and that my good friends reminded me that writing was a better way to feel that void than eating my own weight in sugar-coated stuff, and it would help me to spill out my feelings.

When I was younger I was a great fan of poetry, let´s see if I haven´t lost my touch.

Feel free to join me in the dark road of poetry. Sometimes, I´ll try to add an illustration here and there for your amusement. See you back on April 1st with my first post: A is for Absinthe.

 

P.S.1: Do you want to know more about AtoZ Challenge?: If you are already participating, here you can see the master list of all those who will participate this year, or the Theme Reveal List where those who are participating have submitted their blog posts about their amazing themes. I hope you are one of those!

P.S.2: Are you joining the Road Runner Challenge: #BlogchatterA2Z?: If you are already participating, here you can see the Theme Reveal Post with the link to the blog post of those who are participating and have submitted their wonderful topics. Come and join the excitement!