Author’s Note
I wrote these haiku in a fervor yesterday while struggling to adequately edit a poem willa had submitted to me. I was dissatisfied with the poem and willa became rather frustrated, flooding me with enough revisions to put me off the concept entirely. Initially, I had thought to write a sonnet to post instead but upon finding no sonnet in me, I chose to write these nine haiku.
I never did post them yesterday, thereby ending an ongoing publishing streak I’d maintained since last spring. So it goes.1
The haiku is a pleasant form and I have butchered it below. Of these nine, I think none accurately acquired the mystique of a well-written haiku. Often, I am missing the kireji (cutting word) that defines the form in the original Japanese. This concept is difficult to apprehend in English, but I have often tried to write haiku featuring some expressions like the kireji. Yesterday, I made no effort. Sometimes, I did not even adhere to the 5-7-5 formality, despite instructing myself to do so in Haiku III below.
Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy these fragments that came to me in a moment of artistic frustration. I am somewhat indifferent to them, but I think II is funny and IV is gentle and VII is compelling. Let me know what you think.
Now to see if I can wring out that unfinished sonnet from yesterday...
I
reaching low wet lips, breathless, night— alone, gasp!
II
over the grey field a stupid cloud is pissing and the cows are sad.
III
when writing nine hai- ku ensure your syllables are always correct
IV
sometimes, your breath— and soft plump berries on my neck and your kindness.
V
over the white pines an eagle soars and the snow continues falling
VI
in the foothills of memory everyone is happy and glorious and love knows no enemy
VII
when you | that way | to
me | and you | so close | so close
and you | so good | god!VIII
sun, moss, and sleep. afternoon naps in the woods. summer is better.
IX
come closer. please, come. i want you to keep me warm. winter sucks. i'm cold.
I am devastated, but it is better that the publishing schedule be unmotivated by the cheap dopamine of a winning streak.