block of wood glowing
like a jewel in the grass
caught in a sunbeam
3.5.18
Leave a CommentCategory: Haiku
cold wind like a slap
boys, biking, do not feel it
I wait in the car
3.3.18
Phillipsburg PA
///
car zooms by outside
rain spatter on rubber tires
while upstairs: zazen
3.3.18
State College PA
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
///
sign flapping in wind:
“every wall is a door”
I go around though
2.28.18
version 4
all written in Pittsburgh PA
Leave a Commentmorning bird’s sharp chirp
pierces the predawn darkness
spring cannot be rushed
2.27.18 (5:30 a.m.)
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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.
One Comment
I watch him fall to the floor
see the light overtake his face
when it fades, he is born again
3 December 2013
Oak Street
/ / /
This is the kind of poem you write after finally finishing the William Hartnell era of Doctor Who.
Leave a CommentI awoke beside an open notebook
while the radiator gurgled away
the sharp bite of a December night
2 December 2013
Oak Street
the streets are full of shouting
in the southern college town
where the last second counted
30 November 2013
Oak Street
[Photo: Melissa Humble, Auburn University Photo Services]
Leave a Commentyou can kick only so many people
off your remote desert island
before you wake up under a palm tree alone
28 November 2013
Oak Street