Haiku and Senryu by the Dozen

Dec 4

Posted by

Photobucket
 
 

When dreams pursue you,
plunge over the precipice
into the river.
 
 
In tiny notebooks
(it is her mission in life)
she scribbles haiku.
 
 
She opens a book
of subtle, cunning language—
tiny stars fall out.
 
 
If the night dogs bark,
do not be dismayed, old man—
still the plums ripen.
 
 
She has no inkling
why this ground is called holy,
yet the bush still burns.
 
 
You are the daughter
of two amorous dreamers,
dense with leaves and fruit.
 
 
May your sleep be sweet,
with fragrance of vanilla
soothing all your dreams.
 
 
at the age of nine
old stones crusted with lichen
my only playmates
 
 
All I ask of You
is a fruit-laden basket
hidden in my heart.
 
 
Must you genuflect
before the serpent river
as though it were God?
 
 
December ripens
into inedible fruit—
so will our delight.
 
 
You trade your language
for trinkets or a trivet?
May your tongue be stilled!
 
 
© 2011 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
More The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 33 poems here
 
More The Poetry Pantry #78 here

Posted on December 4, 2011, in haiku, The Poetry Pantry, The Sunday Whirl. Bookmark the permalink. 21 Comments.

  3. Mary | December 4, 2011 at 8:23 am

    Very, very nice! This is my favorite, but enjoyed them all:

    You are the daughter
    of two amorous dreamers,
    dense with leaves and fruit.

    Reply
  4. brenda w | December 4, 2011 at 8:48 am

    These are brilliant. They spoke to me on such a deep level, each opening a place inside as I read. There is no favorite among them, they function together beautifully.

    Reply
  5. Marianne | December 4, 2011 at 11:54 am

    Your haiku are all wonderful, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be:
    She opens a book
    of subtle, cunning language—
    tiny stars fall out.
    I love the image of tiny stars, or perhaps words, falling!

    Reply
  6. Kelly E. | December 4, 2011 at 12:24 pm

    Wonderful series of haikus – the repetition of fruit and river images weaves them together beautifully. I too, loved the one that Marianne mentions, but I admit I have a thing for stars… 🙂

    Reply
  7. Sherry Blue Sky | December 4, 2011 at 1:09 pm

    I so love your enigmatic and clever haiku! Wonderful, every line!

    Reply
  8. Paul Andrew Russell | December 4, 2011 at 2:37 pm

    I have a weakness for haiku. Very nice writing. 🙂

    Reply
  9. vivinfrance | December 4, 2011 at 3:27 pm

    I think these are exceptionally good. The sequence has a definite oriental feel to it, and each element, complete in itself, has wisdom and beauty.

    The trick of using haiku/senryu for a difficult set of wordle words has been filed away in my mind for future use!

    Reply
    • magicalmysticalteacher | December 4, 2011 at 3:31 pm

      Thank you!

      I have a confession: It’s easier for me to write discrete haiku, employing one Wordle word each, than to construct a whole poem using all the words. That said, it took me about four hours of steady writing to come up with these twelve haiku.

      Reply
  10. wordsandthoughtspjs | December 4, 2011 at 4:28 pm

    “She opens a book
    of subtle, cunning language—
    tiny stars fall out.”

    That is my favourite by far. Absolutely delightful haiku and your imagery is wonderful. Thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog. Yes, you definitely need to visit here again. There are days on my travels through the city, that I am mesmerized by the view of Popo, that is what us locals call him 🙂

    Pamela

    Reply
  11. Traci B | December 4, 2011 at 4:54 pm

    Cool haiku collection; I enjoyed each one. I may borrow this idea for next week’s wordle. 🙂

    Reply
  13. irene | December 5, 2011 at 5:36 am

    I enjoyed your twelve haikus. Nice feeling.

    Reply
  14. Mike Patrick | December 5, 2011 at 11:02 am

    All of these are excellent. In some, I believe you truly match the original spirit of haiku with nature, deep thought and multiple meanings. Breathtaking.

    Reply
  15. Mike | December 5, 2011 at 1:17 pm

    A great set of haiku.
    My favourite was the one about the burning bush.

    Reply
  16. Morning | December 5, 2011 at 10:03 pm

    clever take on the prompt.

    do share with our poetry picnic today.

    Reply
  18. Wyoming Diva | December 6, 2011 at 10:53 am

    I enjoyed this -very confident and thoughtful!

    Reply

Please Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.