So here’s something fun: Magnetic Haiku.

You’ve seen those boxes of magnetic poetry, right? All those little white magnets of random words that stick to a fridge or file cabinet . . .

They even show up stuck to the back of espresso machines in coffee shops. People play with them while waiting for their lattes to steam.

Well, believe it or not, there is a magnetic poetry kit made especially for composing haiku, and here at Haiku By Two, we’re completely smitten.

What I like most about the Magnetic Haiku is that it’s not intimidating. So many people, I think, are intimidated by poetry — even short poetry like haiku!

But with the magnets, you’re restricted to the words you’re given, so right away, some of the pressure is off to be uber creative and insightful.

Given the absurd imagery and language before you, all you have to do is make a modicum of sense.

Suddenly, composing a haiku becomes this whimsical thing you can easily do while you’re waiting for the pasta water to boil. Like here’s one I came up with the other night:

Deep, man. Very deep.

Actually, this reminds me of a song from Cats . . . Macavity The Mystery Cat.

I, too, am totally digging my Magnetic Haiku. Mine’s not set up in my kitchen, though, so I can’t mindlessly do it while boiling water.

I’ve got mine stuck to a white board in my office. Whenever I’m in a writing funk, I go stand in front of it and just start moving words around. I think it helps my writer’s block.

This is something I came up with the other day: