HaikuLeaks

Haikuleaks is a swell example of data-mining meets found poetry: By running a Cablegate parser in conjunction with a program called HaikuFinder which searches for the five-seven-five syllable pattern associated with haiku, Tetalab’s Fabrice Fourc has created a program that can find unlikely little haikus within the mess of diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks over the course of this past month.

Here are a few:

King Hamad flatly

stated that Bahrain is not

happy with Qatar.

They are being seen

as barometers for next

year’s nationwide vote.

The machines do not

operate well in non-air

conditioned spaces.

As is typical,

the Pope stayed above the fray

and did not comment.

Sure, it’s no Bashō, and as some MetaFilter readers point out, ‘proper’ haikus are about more than just the 5-7-5 syllable structure, and also reference the season and feature a surprising turn in the final five-syllable line. But it’s amazing how much meaning and structure one can find, if one looks a little too hard, in accidental little clusters of syllables in the midst of stacks of official paperwork.

(Haikuleaks via Waxy)