What is Haiku?
What is Haiku?
HAIKU is a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world …but I am a contemporary American haiku poet and speak of many things.
Here are 60 of my Haiku Poems
In rainforest woodlands
under tree umbrellas
the chanterelles grow
A sudden surprise—
it can take one’s breath away
with half of a chance
The concert went on
his music under the floor
—the cricket chirped
In the winter time
where do all the homeless sleep?
—the nights are so secret
Forever at it
—people just like ants and bees
go colonizing
Patterns of the sun
are all in God’s work day done
and colors of the moon
Forever drifting
the dreamer sat on a hill
and he sang his thoughts
The steelhead jumped
out of the water for the fly
—to see me on the bank
He outward stoic
—his dreams sweet and revealing
—love was in his heart
Aimless and confused
the wayward boy settled
to became a man
She lucky with age
smiles inside her wrinkled face
now—older than most
He worries too much
he sits and prays to the moon
—to most everything tonight
He craves water
he must find it—then boil it
—before he drinks it
Of most importance
between man and his landscape
—is the interplay
To grandma’s fiddle
the little children played
—they danced and sang
Take a deep—deep breathe
hold it in—and meditate
—now exhale—relax
The lady comes
—the Spirit Lady comes
—talking in tongues
I saw the wild duck
—the one with the yellow eye
at the river today
One—two—three waves lap
over my feet at the beach
while—four seagulls squawk
Dandelions grow
in most every lawn and field
—a pesky salad green
My pet little flea
you, a nuisance and bother
—you never leave me
On foot he walked
a different path—to see
new—and welcome change
I go to the beach
to have a conversation
alone with myself
Life on earth is short
—be nice to all friends and pets
—you may meet again
The earth breathes life
as if an eternal dance
—it is never still
Meandering path
through woodland green
—he walks refreshed again
Photosynthesis—
I mowed grass yesterday
today—more grass grows
That place which is plain
demands a clean—simple mind
to get to pure state
I go the same path
to the same woods and stream
—to watch the changes
His meetings with friends
were always cherished moments
and times not forgot
A garden needs care
some praying—with toil and work
or weeds will take over
Flowers do not grow
at the end of this last road
—adios my friend
Instantaneous
gratification is just
a type of spoiled
The night was alive
the moon and stars shined
with his woman’s love
The lonely hermit
in his singular retreat
loved his singing birds
Legs had given out
but her wit kept on laughing
and dreams kept coming
He died in his sleep
but his journey did not end
—his soul wandered on
Care and nurturing
of many ideas can grow
into a country
Clean water drops fell
continually from the leaf
to the lapping tongue
My dear loved friend
in time you may well forget
but for me—not yet
His mind—not enough
—he had to learn to know love
with matters of his heart
Board games are for rain
sun does not shine everyday
—come outside and play
A new day would come
—she lived for tomorrow
—just like her mother
He returns again
and again to his quiet place
by the banyan tree
Mouse in the feed bag
an opossum on the porch
the cabin door unlatched
The weathered miner
—only the skeleton knows
in lost fields of gold
No heavy thoughts
lost in night to love’s light
—only romance remains
Poverty mother,
lost father—the ghetto news
a child still can bloom
To sustain a life
getting water from a well
is a precious thing
A clean window shows
the mountain covered with snow
—and keener sense of cold
There are young men—to
walk my steps and take my place
—now, that I am old
I satisfied her wants
then my lover said to me
—I love you, Romeo
Mockingbird’s up tonight
and mimicking everything
—with a full moon bright
At the headwaters
today—a rainbow flexes
at the waterfall
You a speck of sand
we lay under open skies
—me small like an ant
A long winding road
—many days and many nights
—but his life worth it
The honeysuckle
surrounds the arbor gate
—like too many soldiers
I satisfied her wants
then my lover said to me
—I love you, Romeo
Is the saguaro
awake with the owl tonight
when the coyote howls?
