Haikus

I never used to write Haikus. My poetry is usually of the longer (and more obvious) sort.
But a year or so back I tried a few out. I even got Don Wentworth, the editor of Lilliput Review, a poetry journal specializing in poems of less than ten lines, close to biting one for his Issa’s Untidy Hut. But not quite.
I posted a selection of them a while back, but I thought they deserved a page of their own.
I and have written quite a few more since, too. They are all very diverse.
Some probably don’t follow the rules quite as well as they should. But I stopped worrying too much about the rules once I knew I could follow them if need be. I also give each one a title, something not always done with Haikus. Sometimes the title is almost part of the poem, sometimes not.

 

 

Speed

Cyclist careening down

Mountain, crouching under wind

Ignoring the sky.

 

Freedom

Cycling through city –
The cars, once sold:
A promise of freedom.

 

Cornflowers

August cornflowers
Watching always
The buzzard on the post

 

Vultures

Circling vultures
Await not a death,
But the humans to disperse.

 

Mountain Village

Five streetlights
Huddled under
Pale shadow.

 

Sinking or Swimming.

Swim! they scream,
Splashing frantic
Water into our faces.

 

The Perspective of Theology

I see the truth –
Another perspective
Would just confuse.

 

Temporarily

Satisfying,
The urge
Eased.

 

Nixers

Observing engineers
Learning difference between
Spanner, wrench and ratchet.

 

Snappers

Grabbing spanners
Learning wrenches and ratchets
Yet never engineers.

 

Noise Pollution

Cycling with child –
A question cried out.
I hear the traffic.

 

Against the Wind

The north wind
Pushes me to work –
Home is a struggle.

 

Holiday

Journey:
Means
Is end.

Stardust

Smoke lingers,
Fireworks cascade
Inside.

 

Time Machine

And if I had a time machine,

I think

I’d just press pause.

 

Arresting

The red Porsche

Parked outside Tiffany’s

Drew cops’ attention.

 

At Sunset

Sunset

Shaded

Fireworks blaze

 

 

Suffer the Little Children

 

Let the kids suffer:

We do them no favours,

Making shit easy.

 

Snowfall

Staring at

Falling snowflakes

Like spellbinding fire