Five, seven, and five.
This balance makes a haiku
We now celebrate
Such simple beauty
Beyond words and beyond rhyme
Found in just three lines
Of Japanese fame,
Haiku once was called Hokku
Preface to Rengu
Late 1800s,
By Masaoka Shiki,
The Haiku thus named
Then master of form,
Now Sainted of Poetry,
Matsuo Bashō
Language may falter,
Imagination translates
Where words reach and fail
行春や 鳥啼き魚の 目は泪
Matsuo Bashō
Spring is passing
The birds cry, and the fishes’ eyes are
With tears.
Modern Haiku can
Pull tradition to breaking
Snip a rule or two
life’s little, our heads
Ravi Shankar, “Lines on a Skull”
sad. Redeemed and wasting clay
this chance. Be of use.
So go, inhale life
Exhale beauty in slow breath
As words flit on page
Another day goes,
Another to celebrate,
Happy Haiku Day!