A haiku is a seventeen-syllable poem with a seasonal reference. Haikus describe moments as they are, generally without using metaphor or simile. But that doesn’t prevent them from being richly evocative and metaphorical. Here is a selection of some of my favorites written over the years.
Summer
swimming in the lake
no need to run for cover
when it starts to rain
holding his toddler
a man leans toward the fountain
till they feel the spray
July 4th weekend
a car speeds up the thruway
under two kayaks
ferns in evening light
bowing to one another
a prayer for me
vacation treasure
all the freckles on her nose
that weren’t there before
yard sale butterfly
stopping for a few moments
on the rocking chair
Autumn
September morning
two girls running toward the sea
for one last dunking
carried by the stream
each of the fallen leaves
finding its own way
rainy Thanksgiving
struggling with an umbrella
and a covered dish
a leaf in the stream
turning over at the edge
of the waterfall
walking with a cane
noticing every fallen
acorn on my path
November forest
the darkest red possible
that isn’t yet brown
Winter
in the subway car
a boy with snowflakes knitted
into his sweater
on a winter night
steam rising from the dumplings
in the takeout place
candles keep falling
out of the clay menorah
that our daughter made
when I walk away
the wet logs finally burn
in the cabin stove
the silence after
the snowmobilers move on
envelops the field
alone in the woods
following someone’s footprints
on the snowy path
Spring
the daffodil bulbs
that I planted and forgot
blooming near the steps
Adirondack chair
emerging from the winter
with a broken slat
after spring rain
every now and then a drop
on the cabin roof
I slow myself down
in the March sun, my father
walking with a cane
on a clear spring night
pausing on a street corner
for the crescent moon
on my sister’s grave
an ant traces the numbers
of her birth date