For years, my friend Bill had a bumper sticker that read, “Kill Your Television”, so I’m sure this haiku will interest him. It’s by Joseph Massy: television light lies on the American lawn Haiku has been used for social commentary in the U.S. for a long time. People like Langston Hughes, e.e. cummings, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, and Jack Kerouac have all written haiku. Here’s … Continue reading Social Significance
hazy yellow sun in a forest fire sky giving no quarter This haiku is an example of one that contains a fragment and a phrase. Because haiku do not contain full sentences, the parts are labeled, fragment and phrase. “giving no quarter” is a fragment of a sentence. It’s as if there were a longer sentence and part of it was removed and used elsewhere. … Continue reading No Quarter
Last night after dinner, I sat outside in a lawn chair and wrote four haiku. All I did was sit in the chair and observe. Once you train your mind to block out unwanted thoughts (try Buddhist meditation) you can observe the world around you much more clearly. As I sat, a Blue Eyed Darner came along and investigated me. I wrote: curious blue eyed … Continue reading Evening Breeze
full moon slowly sets into my tea cup Sometimes odd ideas come to mind for an interesting haiku, like the one above. Someone may ask, “What does it mean?” The nice thing about writing poetry, (one of the many) is that you can leave the interpretation of your work up to the reader. As a reader, I like it left to me to decide what … Continue reading Full Moon
Where does haiku inspiration come from? That’s a good question. When I began writing haiku, I began by reading a lot of it. Basho, Buson, and other celebrated writers, and amateur writers as well. My haiku inspiration comes from life. Just simply, everyday life. Things I see, things I do, things that happen to me. Take for instance, these two that I wrote recently: warmth … Continue reading haiku inspiration
Wind in the Trees, a haiku journal 