Trying Haikus

Today was wonderful in that I got to not only hear our Washington State Poet Laureate, Elizabeth Austen read some of her poems, but some other local poets as well. It was an event at one of the local libraries. I even participated in reading a couple of my own poems during the open mike portion of the program. But I didn’t hear but one person do any haikus. Her haikus were pretty brilliant, I had to admit.

I’m late posting this again tonight because I was challenging myself to write in that style---the haiku. I am not really comfortable attempting it. Some people think the haiku is easy to write, but I struggle with it. Here are my twenty minutes of attempting the genre. I’m sure some of you are much better at this then I am. Leave me a haiku!

Traditionally they are 5-7-5 in syllables, but there was a web site claiming that is not the case in English anymore that syllables don’t really count. I took that to heart with some of them.

Tomato plants reaching for sun

Call to me

I plant early

Fluffy pealed trees

Signal goes for spring

Yielding to frigid rains

Smell of brownies baking

Walk by the lake

Remind me swimming comes

Come God Almighty

Take away world’s mighty sin

You are much stronger

Held up by my love

Before I was born he came

He overcame grave

Sending sun’s rays back

I knelt down and felt around

Where the arrow fell

Looking down seeing

More is forgotten this hour

Starring at my hands

Rough patches on feet

Examines my heart speaking

Rub some lotion in

Slice through pain piercing

Look beyond the horizon

Bird wings its way free

Forgive me now

Hand placed on face tenderly

Turns to warmth again

Spring Blood moon rises

Thin, wet grass shutters in wind

Gaping ground swallows

Round wrinkled eyes soft

Place needle in hand to thread

Pull through missing once

Jesus treads not hard

Slides over donkey saddle

Braying covers cheers

Held tight in my arms

Place scraped out permanently

Round in a square hole