Haiku Master Basho

Matsuo Basho is the Japanese saint of Haiku. Of samurai heritage, he lived in the 17th century and had an enormous following. His complete works, consisting of 1011 haiku, have recently been collected and translated by Jane Reichhold and can be found in Basho The Complete Haiku (Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2008).

It is my humble intention to also write 1011 haiku, one each day. I began in August 2009 and by my estimation, should finish in May 2012. Traditionally haiku was concerned with nature, but today our "nature" has changed. New technology has replaced the winds of nature as the force in our times. What was a rock is now a computer key. What was a cherry blossom is now a world wide web of information. What was light, is now the speed of light. Haiku is about finding an essence, thus these writings will seek to find the essence of our lives today.

A note for the reader: an important aspect of haiku is that the reader can put as much of herself/himself into the piece as the writer. If a haiku is good it will become your meaning not mine. Wish me luck! When the project is complete, if only one of the 1011 haiku approaches the skill and mastery of Basho, I will be satisfied.




Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Nu Haiku 226

"Principally sound
monetary assistance
options." Need funds now.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 225

Obama health care
victory. Civil rights on
the move one more time.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 224

Magic personal
communication device.
Dropped, cracked, drowned. Still works.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 223

Anger, like cousin
lightening, followed by loud
crashing noise in air.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 222

Web feed, RS feed,
syndicated content, or
XML. Update.
Posted by at

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Nu Haiku 221

Drone man, always on
the phone man. Technology
whip cracks in his ear.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 220

Naughty nodules try
to grow a life of their own.
Wicked thoughts run fast.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 219

Norepinephrine,
dopamine, serotonin.
Brain cocktails. Cin cin.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 218

Gray dog's breath in and
out, sleeping. Whistles, snores, pops.
Now the bone dreams come.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 217

Harrier hawk flies
to leather gloved hand, lands light,
takes meat, then stares hard.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 216

When the wind stops, bird's
song finishes, and footsteps
pause, there is silence.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 215

Taconic in the
rain, water breath turns into
mist. Moving through time.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 214

Listening lady
smiles, knows pain comes in her door,
flops on sofa, cries.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 213

Ripped orange sunset rakes
New York skyline. Paradise
lost, above rogue streets
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 212

Brick building, grim square
housing block, orange curtains flirt
with grit street below.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 211

Sand on the beach sticks
to my boots, disappearing
later, unnoticed.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 210

Woman with walnut
face, hunched against cold, wears red
head to toe. Laughing.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 209

Vertical shadows
run floor to ceiling. Twelve bars.
Jail? Open window?
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 208

Arrogant man sits
in corner unwrapping sweets,
eating, scowling loud.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 207

Human bonobos
show butts on Chatroulette. Rude
monkey manners hoot.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 206

A light within warms
as full moon rises over
inked sea. A new night.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 205

Red slice on finger,
mind distracted wondering
where the boy has gone.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 204

Frying garlic for
noodles makes the whole house stink.
Sour words sizzle too.
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 203

Old man sitting by
curb eats chicken with his hands.
Down at kingdom hall
Posted by at

Nu Haiku 202

Wet snow flakes, paper
torn, discarded by angels,
haiku from heaven.
Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)