Pommelling hail –
like the old oak,
I never change.
(Basho)
What is haiku?
A haiku is a poem
intended to convey a message using the minimum of language.
Typically, haiku are concerned with
nature and living.
The simplicity of the verse serves to add clarity to the message; no
wasted words are used.
There is an immediacy to the image or feeling.
Haiku
Your understanding of a haiku will change as you change.
Here are some haiku:
watching my daughter
watching her daughter washing
her doll's white socks
(Louise Beaven)
How I long to see
among dawn flowers,
the face of God.
(Basho)
the purple poppy
turns its head
at each breath of wind
(Ion Codrescu)
You the butterfly –
I, Chuang Tzu’s
dreaming heart.
(Basho)
sunday-morning sex
lasts only as long as the
children's video
(Gerald England)
Do not forget the plum,
Blooming
in the thicket.
(Basho)
Snow
falls on snow -
silence
(Santoka
Taneda)
birthday shopping -
into the dress she loves
her daughter's hips
(Lee Gurga)
If I’d the knack
I’d sing like
cherry flakes falling.
(Basho)
staff party
hand on his wife's back
while his eyes wander
(Jean Jorgensen)
Yellow
rose petals
thunder –
a waterfall.
(Basho)
Faceless – bones
scattered in a field,
wind cuts my flesh.
(Basho)
Morning glory:
A beauty's charm
But a few day's dream.
(Natsume Soseki)
Summer grasses -
All that remains
Of soldier's visions.
(Basho)
Accompanying me
through summer fields -
a butterfly.
(Fukada Kodojin)
Butterfly in my hand -
As if it were a spirit
Unearthly, insubstantial.
(Yosa Buson)
Old man dies -
on his wrist
seconds tick on.
(David Lawson)
First winter rain –
I plod on,
Traveller, my name.
(Basho)
green grass -
between, between the blades
the colour of water
(Kaga No Chiyo)
Puffing up dust
as it follows a toad
the dog's nose.
(Colin Oliver)
Wake, butterfly –
it’s late, we’ve miles
to go together.
(Basho)
The dancer's gesture
extends
beyond her fingers.
(Eric Speight)
Page created 8 July 2004