
The time has come! As promised, I’m back again, asking you to share your experiences of heart disease through the fun (if slightly random) format of haiku!
Quick reminder… A haiku has 17 syllables in all: 5 in the first line, 7 in the second, 5 in the third. For our purposes, that’s really all you need to know – just don’t tell the haiku police I said so!
Now, I’ve had quite a few people get in touch to say they find identifying the number of syllables in a word tricky. I have two things to say on this:
1: I do not mind if your “haiku” has the “wrong” number of syllables entirely, or even if you make no attempt to adhere to syllable count or three lines or whatever. You’ll notice previous editions of the zine feature contributions that are not haiku. If you respond creatively to the monthly prompt, I will be delighted to read it and consider it for inclusion in the zine, haiku or not.
2: If, however, you do want to have the “right” number of syllables, there are some handy techniques to help. This video is aimed at children, but has four very useful and easy ways to make breaking words down into syllables super simple. My favourite is to talk like a robot – you will naturally break words down into syllable sections by doing so 🙂

This month’s theme is SYMPTOMS, as chosen by popular vote over on Twitter. What are the symptoms of your heart condition? How do they make you feel? What impact do they have on your life? Are other people aware of your symptoms? How do they respond? Or are your symptoms invisible? If not, do you wish they were? Have you found an ingenious way to manage your symptoms? Whatever your thoughts about the symptoms of heart disease, I want to hear them!
The main symptoms of my heart condition (heart failure) are exhaustion, fatigue and breathlessness. Sometimes I also display the “classic” symptom of fluid retention, but not so much. I would also add depression to that list, as well as irritability and brain fog. Here are a few examples of haiku I’ve written that address the symptoms of my heart condition to some extent. (I’m not going to include those I’ve written about depression, only because I feel like we should probably have mental health as a zine topic in its own right some month.)

The stupidest jobs
Can become impossible
On a bad heart day.
Hanging up washing,
Reaching for the highest shelf –
Arms lose all power.

Running on empty –
A broken escalator
Has brought me to tears.
Sometimes my lungs burn
Or my legs feel so heavy
That I can’t lift them.
Stairs like a mountain.
I start to climb – my heart sinks
Like my oxygen.

Keeping my head up –
Insurmountable challenge
When my heart won’t play.
Early bed / late rise –
I might spend more time sleeping
Than I do awake.
I’ll ask a question
At the bottom of a hill
To hide breathlessness.

I sigh much more now –
Not to express annoyance,
Just for lack of breath.
I forget my words
And I lose my train of thought
Think…I need some air.
I’m really looking forward to reading what you all have to say about your symptoms. If, like me, you get breathless and sigh a lot, you might be interested in the project Life of Breath and this recent post about sighing from Heart Sisters.
Happy haikuing!
How I know I’m I’ll.
Breathless, tired, faint and a cough.
A relative sloth.
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Doh!
Damned auto correct.
It should have read…….
How I know I’m ill.
Breathless, tired, faint and a cough.
A relative sloth.
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Wait, isn’t this what your original comment DID say?! Oh, I see – ill/I’ll 🙂 Gah, autocorrect often does more harm than good, I find. Thanks, as ever, for your contributions!
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Tired beyond belief.
What time will I hit the wall?
Oh no, there we go.
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Ah yes, I know this feeling! I typically expire as I sit down for dinner 🙂
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Thump thump silence
Huff puff top of the hill gasp,
Dizzy, breathe, sleep
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I love the rhythm of this one, Anne! I can FEEL the effort to keep going and the body’s resistance/exhaustion.
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Upright and breathing.
My reply to “how are you?”
That satisfies most.
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Here comes my heartache
Spasms are labour in my heart
No baby in the end
The pain comes and goes
The air squished out of my lungs
My heart starved of blood
The pain grows and grows
It’s deeper longer stronger
Cutting through my chest
My bra feels too tight
I cannot think speak or move
Then the pain has gone
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Not able to run
My heart can’t keep up
Thump thump thump it hurts
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Tha-dump… thump thump thump,
Should it be beating like that?
Tha-dump, dump dump, gulp!
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