As I've posted about from time to time, inspired by Kobayashi Issa who wrote over 10000 haiku in his life, I make a habit of writing at least one haiku every day. Most in English, some in Japanese, some in both, a handful in other languages. Most in free-form style, but some sticking to a syllable count of some kind. Most not very good, but with enough writing some nuggets do come up.

Here are three recent ones:

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Ultraman

My kids are obsessed with Ultraman (as are most Japanese boys).

my boy
singing the ultraman theme
at the library

alternatively perhaps:

under his breath
singing the ultraman theme
at the library

Hair Problems

as every parent knows, as much as we love them, there is just a bit of stress involved in the job. You can see it in my hair

more hair falls out
I'm either going bald
or shedding

(perhaps I should remove that I'm from the second line. it's not really necessary)

Time

and now we find ourselves in a new month. How quickly time flies!

already august
how quick it goes
the night is short

this is the most traditional of all three, taking the kigo short night (短夜、mijikayo), which, as you might imagine, can be taken literally or metaphorically—or both.

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And there we are. Do you like any? If not, ah well, writing at least one a day I'm bound to hit on something decent one of these days.

I encourage all of you to write your own daily haiku. Just stop doing for a few minutes in your day, look around, and try to sum up what's there in a few words.

If you post any, tag me so I can see.

❦

	David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.