Category Archives: haiku

What the Book! Haibun A Writer’s Guide

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In Rattle Magazine Issue 87, Lew Watts, the Welsh Poet, was interviewed by the editor, Timothy Green. It is a fascinating, wide-ranging and entertaining interview about all things ‘haibun’ and during the interview, this book was mentioned.


A confession. I’ve been mispronouncing ‘haibun’ for some time. Even now when I see the word on paper, ‘halibun’ pops into my head. I even cracked jokes involving ‘halibun and chips’. But back to the book.


This book is essential reading for anyone interesting in reading and writing haibun. It is accessible, entertaining and breaks down the essential ingredients that go into a haibun. That is no mean feat, because, like the haiku there is an ineffable quality to the haibun.

arcane moon
po-faced
fades to morning

Okay, pump the brakes. A good haiku makes or breaks the haibun. The other ingredients…title, and prose complete the trinity. What this book does well, through several fascinating examples, is explain how these three ingredients spark off each other and cause the reader to revisit the haibun again and again.

So go out and buy this book, you won’t regret it!

The Days of Doggerel Past (Jiggery Pot Pourri 2)

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The Days of Doggerel Past

There was time
I would take my doggerel
for a long, long walk
just me and a bunch of obvious rhymes
good times, good times, good times.

Another Haiku Involving a Vacuum

allergens loiter
on the vacuum’s humid breath
spiders abandon

web based solutions
seek cover in crevices
domestic terror.

Why I have difficulty writing haiku (3)

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Why I have difficulty writing haiku

problem with haiku
definite article is
first casualty

next casualty
indefinite article
makes me sound little

like Japanese guard
in prison camp in movie
world war two movie

who for some reason
is speaking English (how? why?)
with staccato voice

or perhaps I am
po-faced guru on mountain
dispensing bromides:

crow flies at midnight
in front of luminous moon
affair ends badly

all because I am
in service to, at mercy
of, syllable count

here it comes again
surplus syllable flop sweat
haiku-tortured night.

Over at Desperate Poets, Shay asks :

“What subject, genre, sacred cow, or literary convention do you ache to spin until it’s dizzy? What mask do you long to pull off and drag a confession out of its wearer? What accepted wisdom do you long to expose as horsefeathers? Or perhaps you just want to set your keyboard on “stun” and knock us over with your unexpected use of language? Come on, flout convention! Irony and all major credit cards accepted. Unreliable narrators welcome.”

This is a post from a while back but with a new verse!

Forest Fire (tanka)

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Forest Fire

smoke obscures the dawn

there is no…no early light

oh say, can you see

the root cause, the root causes

and does it, does it give pause.

Another one for Brendan’s ekphrastic challenge over at Earthweal. Taking part in open link weekend over at earthwealhttps://earthweal.com/, since I’m late for the original prompt,

Angel on the Move (haiku)

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Angel on the Move.

always, yes, always
take your pedestal with you
with you when you go

Brendan’s challenge over at earthweal is to write an ekphrastic poem inspired by the images he provides or one of your own. This is one of my own but check out Brendan’s images, you will be inspired!

Also taking part in Open Link over at dverse.

Why I have difficulty writing haiku (again)

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IMG_0166

Why I have difficulty writing haiku

problem with haiku
definite article is
first casualty

next casualty
indefinite article
makes me sound little

like Japanese guard
in prison camp in movie
world war two movie

who for some reason
is speaking English (how? why?)
with staccato voice

or perhaps I am
po-faced guru on mountain
dispensing bromides:

crow flies at midnight
in front of luminous moon
affair ends badly

all because I am
in service to, at mercy
of, syllable count.

Sound Heard While Replacing The Basement Toilet (plumbing tanka)

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Sunrise over Planet Cistern

Sound Heard While Replacing The Basement Toilet

a ghostly whoosh
echoes down the open pipe
a toilet flushing

in a neighbor’s house uphill
yes, we are all connected.

I hardly ever do this but here’s a challenge to all you poets out there: write a poem about plumbing. There are no rules, write about anything – an ode to your favourite plunger, a sonnet about a dripping tap, a haiku about flexible hoses!

Link back to this post if you like, so I can read your poems.