Friday Five: Five Non-Pickup Line Haiku I’ve Written Lately

Haiku is a short form of poetry originally from Japan. The traditional haiku form consists of three phrases in a 5/7/5 syllable pattern. For years I’ve been writing haiku pickup lines, combining that classic 5/7/5 pattern with “a short form of poetry originally from lonely people,” which culminated in publishing my first poetry collection, Haiku Pickup Lines: Volume 1, last year.

But sometimes we take the format further afield.

1. A Haiku About Anger

   Inside me are two
   wolves. That’s why my tummy hurts.
   And I huff and puff.

2. Good Boy

   Do you think every
   bell Pavlov heard made him think
   about feeding dogs?

3. Delayed Sanctification

   Sometimes you ask a
   question one year, and get the
   answer another.

4. Circumstantial EvidenceDid Abraham have
   a steady hand at 99?
   Oh, to trust that much.

5. The Lasting Supper
   
   The gates of Hell still
   fail to prevail. We’ll use their
   sigils for napkins.

If you’ve never tried writing haiku, or writing any poetry at all, it’s a great “gateway drug” writing exercise. Take a notebook or a post-it note (or a napkin!) with you this weekend, a few minutes to observe, and give it a try. I’d love to read your poems.

Thursday is the first day of Spring, so happy equinox week. You’ve almost made it out of winter’s dark — that’s worth celebrating.