The Fifth World Parkinson Congress will take place June 4-7, 2019, in Kyoto, Japan. As a pre-game warm-up, the WPC is holding a haiku contest this month (April, 2018) which everyone can participate in (Parkies, care givers, medical personnel, family members), even if you don’t plan to attend the Congress next year.
Click here and here for more details, and to upload your poem. You can upload more than one if the creative juices start coursing through your veins like wildfire.
Shall we review what a haiku is? It’s a three line poem. The first line has 5 syllables, the second line has 7 syllables, and the third line has 5 syllables. Traditionally, haiku poems made some reference, however oblique, to nature and the seasons. But if you click on the WPC’s Facebook page, you’ll see plenty of examples, already submitted, that focus exclusively on Parkinson’s disease.
Here are two examples. The first was written by Edna Ball from the USA:
Always the patient,
Forgotten the care partner
Please look our way too
The second is one that I wrote:
In the autumn wind,
The leaves tremble, shake and fall.
Sometimes so do I.
The WPC will publish the winning poem in the official Final Program of the Fifth World Parkinson Congress. Honorary Mentions will be shared on the WPC 2019 website, and all poems will be shared on WPC social media pages.
This contest will last only through the month of April, 2018, so sit down now, think about your experiences with PD, and start writing! (And probably whittling down the number of words until you get the requisite 5-7-5 syllables!)
Note: I went to town and wrote about a dozen haiku last night. I kept getting into bed, turning out the light, and then another poem would start to form in my head. I’d get out of bed, turn on the light, write it down, and hope I could finally fall asleep. To see the results, click Haiku Entries.
