Category: Haiku

block of wood glowing
like a jewel in the grass
caught in a sunbeam

3.5.18

snow returned today
but tonight it is all gone
water-filled belly

3.2.18

wind ruffles my sleeves
“every wall is a door”
:confusing sign reads

2.28.18

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wind ruffles my sleeves
“every wall is a door”
— so says an odd sign

2.28.18
version 2

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wind ruffles my sleeves
“every wall is a door”
(I go around though)

2.28.18
version 3

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sign flapping in wind:
“every wall is a door”
I go around though

2.28.18
version 4

all written in Pittsburgh PA

feet sore from walking
back sweaty from early warmth
jump in shower — ah!

/ / /

Jason Crane
25 February 2015
State College PA

I go through periods of reading and writing haiku. I’ve done it ever since I moved to Japan in 1991 and picked up a copy of Basho’s Narrow Road To The Deep North in a bookstore in Sendai. Today I listened to this talk from Upaya Zen Center (where I almost ended up living in 2013) and decided it was time to start writing haiku again.

In the past I paid little to no attention to the 17-syllable rule, given that in Japanese it’s not even syllables that are counted. But Craig Strand’s part of the talk changed my mind. He said that focusing on three elements — form, season and present mind — frees the mind to express exactly what is there. In other words, the restrictions allow for true freedom. So I’m going to try sticking to 17 syllables.