I’ve never been good at poetry. Just not my thing.
Something about haikus interests me, though. They’re only three lines and 17 syllables total, with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern. Which is another way of saying they don’t take long to write and offer such a simple structure that even my little pea brain can do them; there’s a reason many elementary schools practice them in English class. Despite their bareness, though, great haikus carry endless depth.
The first cold shower
Even the monkey seems to want
A little coat of straw
- Edo period Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō
I’ve tried to write at least one haiku every day for a month now. Here’s a few I don’t hate.
To those that can’t swim
To those that can’t swim:
Summon wood and your spirits
It is time to build.
The King Gorilla
The King Gorilla
Sees only his usurpers
Scheming in the shade
The air leaks water
The air leaks water
Faces glisten and drop dew
Whole city sweating
Before the sky breaks
Before the sky breaks
She will protest and scream rain
She will sound the drums.
The ghost in transit
The ghost in transit
Lingers in sea and sky—Lost
Mind’s eye dimly lit
The only constant
The only constant:
Man’s endless addiction to
Unfettered chaos
I know myself
I know myself—
A slice of The Infinite
I know Nothing.
Wind
I often wonder
When the wind sweeps through your hair
Do you think of me?
Sweet, saccharine sleep
Sweet, saccharine sleep
Bring me to the other side
Send me down river.
Just Writing 