Pop Culture in 17 Syllables

by Glenn McDonald

haiku
– noun; a major form of Japanese verse, written in 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, and employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons, often on the subject of nature or one of the seasons. 

popular culture
- noun; contemporary lifestyle and items that are well known and generally accepted, cultural patterns that are widespread within a population; also called pop culture

Webster’s New Millennium Dictionary of English

Frog jumps into pond…
Splash! Ripple! But I don’t care
I’ve got my iPod

Is it wrong to have
Feelings for Hermione?
She’s 18 now, right?

Click here, you’ll agree…
Se7en is twice the movie!
And then some! Shameless

Woke up happy, then:
Spice Girls announce reunion
Suicidal now

CNN.com
This is what passes for news?
Time-Warner: Bite me.

Chinese prisoners
Plus the greatest song ever?
Nothing wrong with that

Thought: “Elevenade”
Motto: “Our energy drink
Goes to eleven”

Greatest hip-hop feud:
Lady Sovereign versus
The Jelly Donut

Two more years of Bush
Don’t know if I can make it
I hear Quebec’s nice

Went to a rave once
Woke up in San Diego
Naked. Ah, good times…

What the hell is this?
Fight Club for pick-up artists?
Jesus Christ. Men suck.

E-mailed Karen O
And asked her to marry me
For the 18th time

Barry Bonds? Steroids?
His head grows between innings
So, probably, yeah

A real-time haiku:
Dear giant bug on my porch
Please buzz off. Thank you.

Glenn McDonald writes about popular culture from his home in lovely Chapel Hill, NC. His humor essays have been described as “grammatically consistent” and “remarkably frequent”. He is editor of the Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me daily news quiz at NPR.org, and a freelance contributor to many quality radio programs, magazines, websites, and forbidden tomes of chthonic lore. He lives virtually at www.glenn-mcdonald.com.

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