UPDATE (AUGUST 11, 6 P.M.): We love it when mysteries are solved! The students who wrote the haikus on Main Street last week were part of YOUNG AUTHORS - Creative Writing Workshops, a week-long summer writing course for local middle school students taught by Kathy Rattner, a member of the Study-Works team. Ms. Rattner is teaching another creative writing workshop this week... so keep your eyes open for more haikus!
HamletHub began the week by publishing an article on graffiti recently found on Mopus Bridge Road, and we'll end this week with a post about haiku artists on Main Street. A haiku is a short, but not simple, form of Japanese poetry that consists of 17 syllables (three lines of five, seven, and five syllabic phrases). Usually, haikus create an image or describe an emotion or moment in time; however, hours, even days, can be spent finding the words to successful execute this type of succinct poem.
Earlier today, Craig's Fine Jewelry posted this picture on their Facebook page; and it was so fun and local that we had to know more. According to the staff at Craig's, a creative writing group (a teacher and her teenage students) wandered Main Street today decorating the sidewalks in front of several of the stores with "shop-relevant" haikus written in colorful chalk. Unlike graffiti artists, these "haiku artists" had pre-written haikus about the shop and asked the owners if they could decorate their sidewalks with them.
Brilliant Shiny Gems
Beautiful Baubles Delight
Make Special Moments
Some other local haikus can be found in front of Books on the Common, the Ridgefield Conservatory of Dance, the Prospector Shop, and Planet Pizza.
If you have the opportunity to walk along Main Street this weekend, remember to look down, and let us know your favorite local haiku... or written your own, and maybe we'll publish it.