Av heilum hjarta
In the preface, Oddfríður writes: We are a quiet people, the Faroese. Silence is valued. And when we do speak, we are terse. I am very fond of short and concise words. The incisive and succinct words. The rip in the words. The gap in the seconds between the words. The pointed words, which characterise the Faroese people.
Haiku is a short form of Japanese poetry, structured in a way that corresponds with its content. Haiku describes human nature and human in nature.
Japanese haiku is divided into 17 phonetic entities that may be described as syllables. Haiku was given its current name in the 19th century. This was around the same time as haiku was introduced in Europe. Here, haiku has been written in three lines with varying amounts of syllables. The first line has five syllables, the second has seven syllables, and the third line has five syllables. A haiku’s content is also time-honoured. It must be written in present tense and often refers to a day or a seasonal event, and it is supposed to catch the essence of a moment. The objective of the haiku is to write in such a way that the reader unexpectedly gets a glimpse of an image.
Haiku is an open door that looks closed. An abyss that appears shallow. Few words about most things.
Many Faroese poets have experimented with this genre, but this is the first collection of original haiku published in the Faroe Islands.
Hopefully, you, dear reader, will get an unexpected glimpse of an image, a moment, a season, and the innermost chambers of the heart.