A colleague once, had never seen haiku.
I took it as a mission then, to teach,
And struck with inspiration, wrote him two -
- then counted syllables contained in each.
He had his coffee, while I put them up
(His whiteboard made an excellent display).
He took a sip, and then put down his cup,
And read the wisdom I'd come by to say.
He took the lesson in, and then he stood.
Convinced my motives all were to the good,
I watched him reading through my little gem,
Then... adding one more line to one of them.
With irony impossible to miss,
He added simply,
"What the fuck is this."
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Alysa Salzberg
Melissa Miles McCarter
Scarlett Sumac
jlsathre
Matt Paust
Jowita Bydlowska
Salon.com
Comments
Haiku is such a wonderful form. Brief and to the point.
OK... here is my favorite, from a bit of internet flotsam I saw a few years back (from a friend who works at Intel):
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
road
moon be warm
(5)
how
then a
bitter glass so
(7)
a tide
now
a form
(5)
froggy, thanks. I do remember that one, from a long time ago.
JP. thanks (1)
Pilgrim, he actually read with an eye to an ironic twist. He was a little crass sometimes, but always clever.
anna1, thanks. He really didn't miss anything - he just wanted to shoot bottle rockets at it.
Midwest, perfect. Perfect.
Lea, why thank you. I wish I had more time to read as well.
Cathy, you're correct. But you know, I still would like to meet a fluent Japanese and English poet, so I could find out why the heck 5-7-5 means so much to them.
pastvoices, he had the smarts. He was just ready to challenge, at all times.
trilogy, thank you. I also loved his reply. Funny how looking for material makes me dredge up these little moments.
Leon, still, he *was* awfully clever.
Y Heron, actually, it was indeed a fun place to work. I learned a lot.
Kate, yes. But on several levels, some of them less obvious. He was a brilliant guy.
That's all, everyone. Thank you for keeping me in readers. I see some time shaking loose on Sunday, and I will knuckle down and read, read, read. Until then... goodnight!