home    •    about    •    contact

Music  •  Photography  •  Writing

Introduction  •  Novels  •  Short Stories  •  Plays  •  Haiku

Haiku began as a Japanese performance art called renga, a form of linked poetry in which a master composed an initial verse of five, seven, and five syllables called a hokku, followed by short related verses composed extemporaneously by one or more other poets. Eventually the hokku stood alone and became known as a haiku.

The Japanese language, which has a just few simple sounds at the ends of the words, makes rhyming easy enough to do to allow for improvisation. In translation, Japanese haiku is usually rendered without rhymes, to try to preserve the subtleties of the brief poem instead of imposing a rigid rhyme scheme.

On those rare occasions when I've attempted to write haiku, I've also tried to capture the brief, vivid impression rather than constructing a rhyme scheme. In this website presentation, I've also tried to find one of my images in which I see some association to the haiku. If I have succeeded in creating something with meaning and feeling, it is more likely from chance than skill or education.

Like an old blind man

choosing some new dark glasses,

I feel for what's right.

The fall forgotten,

I stride like an emperor

through the wind-blown leaves.

The crossing guard waves

his flimsy stop sign as the

cherry petals fall.

A decade of work:

now all my dreams wither like

unbroken wishbones.

Listen. A ripple

lapping on the stones at dawn,

and then that’s gone too.

During My Father’s Illness
 

Early May and hot.

But who knows whether or not

I’ll need a dark suit?

Mt. Pinatubo

was coloring the sunsets

when we fell in love.

Better
 

I guess I should toss

the last drooping flowers from

my operation.

King’s Day here on earth.

Who knows what’s sung in heaven?

Here it’s just the blues.