A Haiku for You

Haiku poems date from 9th century Japan to the present day. Haiku is more than a type of poem; it is a way of looking at the physical world and seeing something deeper, like the very nature of existence. A haiku poem consists of three lines, with the first and last line having 5 moras, and the middle line having 7. A mora is a sound unit, much like a syllable, but is not identical to it. Since the moras do not translate well into English, it has been adapted and syllables are used as moras. 

Here are three examples of the haiku. From Basho Matsuo, the first great poet of haiku in the 1600s:

An old silent pond...

A frog jumps into the pond,

splash! Silence again.

And an example of the haiku of Yosa Buson from the late 1700s:

A summer river being crossed

how pleasing

with sandals in my hands!

Here are a haiku from Kobayashi  Issa, a haiku master poet from the late 1700s and early 1800s:

O snail

Climb Mount Fuji,

But slowly, slowly!

Natsume Soseki (1867 – 1916) was a novelist and master of the haiku. An example:

Over the wintry

forest, winds howl in rage

with no leaves to blow.

And so I offer you (humbly submitted for your review) some haiku poems of my own. They are fun to write.

Haiku Just for You.

Something fun and new to do.

Wonder of Words yet a few.

Go mighty tigers

Teaching routine kindness, calm

Character counts here. 

Blue skies and green grass

The Summer days here at last

A day in the sun

Family fun day

Memories abound for now

Gone, not forgotten

Olympic Fever

Ribbon for the Throw, Run, Jump

And the day ends with a smile

Sunset on the lake

Camelot Forget me not
Edgewater Estate

Red Yellow and Blue

Making Orange Purple and Green

White Light goes Into the Night

So the end is near;

Climate Change, Political Maze,

Miles to go before we sleep

A flower in spring

We know now, it does not mean

It is here to stay