Art Haiku, Haibun, Senryu

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Ukigumo

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Is there anyone here who is interested in haiku? I tried a search, but amazingly, it seems this topic has never been discussed šŸ˜‰

I'm a big fan of Shiki Masaoka because I like his pithy and yet incredibly emotive vivid poems, often written from his sick bed (he had tuberculosis).

I'm not keen on Bashō and his contemporaries such as Uejima Onitsura because they use so many Japanese idioms that unless you're steeped in the culture (like a native) or break away and look up the temple, occasion or historical incident he refers too, breaking the reading and indeed, the moment.
 
Here's an example of use of idioms…

how many have lost their way in life?
hoards of people are out
to watch the sunset at higan
-Onitsura

spring breeze
moho no matsubara
kiyomidera
-Onitsura

Examples of Shiki

cool summer darkness
laughing voices
on the far side of the river
-Shiki

even more fragile
in drizzle than in snow
winter peonies
-Shiki

the wagtail
pulling up its tail
while flying
-Shiki
 
When writing haiku in English, the suggestion is not to follow the 5-7-5 syllable rule as this tends to make English-language haiku a bit too long, a bit too 'flabby'. Writing to a maximum of ten syllables gives them a more authentic, pithy feel.

summer warmth
ebbing away
cumulonimbus
-Saharu
 
No Five Seven Five?
You speak utter anarchy
Sir Ukigumo!
-MO
 
Sun fries my butt
grass is all dead
fall weather hurry here

Had a super hot summer with no rain. Almost makes me look forward to a Maine snow filled winter , LOL.
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My biscuits, they burn!
I cannot sit anywhere!
Curse you, Helios!

EDIT:
(version two)
My biscuits, they burn!
Even the grass does agree,
"Curse you, Helios!"
 
Last edited:
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