Haiku
The Sound of One Hand Clapping
This Haiku Anthology includes
 Introduction (p. 2)
 Defining Haiku / Clearing Up Misconceptions (p. 3)
 How to Write Your Own Haiku (p. 4)
 Haiku Examples (pp. 5-19):
o Haiku by Various Japanese Haiku Poets
o Haiku by Buson
o Haiku by Issa
o Haiku and Senryu by contemporary haiku poets
 Just for Fun: Some Haiku Jokes (p. 20)
This packet belongs to _________________________________________
If found, please return to B-16 or Mrs. Garcia’s mailbox in B House. Thanks!
Introduction
Welcome to the Haiku Unit!
Although I told them how important a haiku quest to Japan would be, they
wouldn’t let me go, so I tried the next best thing. I read 375 of the approximately
2,852 haiku written by Buson, hundreds more by Issa, collections of classic
Japanese haiku poets, as well as 850 contemporary haiku in The Haiku Anthology.
I fell in love with some of them and have included the poems that are most vivid,
memorable, imaginative, creative, touching, or humorous. In short, (wink, wink—
bad pun intended) these haiku were chosen with great care, with you in mind, and I
hope that you enjoy them as much as I have. 
-Mrs. Garcia
Sometimes you will see two of the same poem. That is because in some cases I
found the same poem translated by two different translators. It’s interesting to see
their differing choices, and you can decide which version you like better!
Although the haiku format does not have to strictly adhere to the 5 – 7 – 5 syllable
format, you will see that many of the translators have kept to that format.
You will notice inconsistencies in punctuation and capitalization; for example, in
some of the poems the beginning of each line is capped, but not in others. In some
poems there is punctuation, yet not in others. That is because in most cases I
reproduced the poems exactly as they appeared in the books I read. I even read one
collection where the haiku were all in caps, but I did modify that because it looked
so odd, like shouting.
Interesting fact: Copper Canyon Press says: “the Chinese character for poetry is
made up of two parts: "Word" and "Temple." It is their company’s logo. What a
cool concept! Poems are a bit like temples constructed out of words. (However,
this is a Chinese symbol, and haiku are Japanese.) Although, there are some
overlapping principles in Asian poetry, and Japan’s Bashō did study Chinese
poetry.
Figure 1: The Chinese character for "Poetry"
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 2 of 19
Defining Haiku by N.C. GARCIA
Haiku is often introduced to younger students because the form
is short and seems easy to write; yet, haiku is more complex than
its dictionary definition suggests:
haiku (hī′-kōō) n., pl. haiku also –kus. 1. A Japanese lyric
verse form having three unrhymed lines of five, seven,
and five syllables, traditionally invoking an aspect of
nature or the seasons. [J. : hai, amusement (<Chin. pá,
farce) + ku, sentence (<Chin. jù).] (Costello 611)
Several misconceptions require clarification. In Japanese, haiku
are usually written in one line; but each of the three parts is still considered a separate unit (Haiku ¶1).
“The Japanese words jion (symbol-sound) and onji (sound-symbol) have been mistranslated into English
as ‘syllable’ for many years;” however, they do not “correspond to the Western notion of the syllable”
(van den Heuvel 329-30). Although haiku is similar in structure to senryu, senryu is concerned with
human nature and emotions; it is often humorous or satiric (van den Heuvel 331).
The Haiku Society of America’s definition of haiku makes it clear that greater emphasis should
be placed on content, less emphasis on an exact number of syllables:
(1) An unrhymed Japanese poem recording the essence of a moment keenly perceived, in which
Nature is linked to human nature. It usually consists of seventeen onji.
(2) A foreign adaptation of (1). It is usually written in three lines of fewer than seventeen
syllables…“It is usually written” places a heavy weight on the word “usually.” We depend on
that word to provide latitude for variations to the syllable count and to the number of lines or
other external aspects of “form” providing they meet the primary stringent requirements
expressed in the first part of the definition. Rarely is haiku longer than seventeen syllables (van
den Heuvel 330).
For example, consider these haiku by Christopher Herold and David Elliott, respectively (van den Heuvel
73, 37):
Sierra sunrise…
pine needles sinking deeper
in a patch of snow (73)
Thick window frost—
through a melted finger hole
blue sky (37)
Although the poems differ in syllable count, they both capture a “concrete image in place and time;”
follow “principles of minimalism and immediacy;” and contain a “season word,” which “is usually
required to place a poem in a specific season” (Haiku ¶1).
Works Cited
Costello, R. B., et al., eds. The American Heritage College Dictionary. 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.
Haiku. n.d.. 13 Oct. 2002 <http://www.simplytom.com/definitions.txl>.
van den Heuvel, C., ed. The Haiku Anthology. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999.
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 3 of 19
How to Write Your Own Haiku
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
First, be very observant.
Capture the essence of a moment.
Use concrete description.
Place it in a specific season.
Use 17 or fewer syllables (strict 5-7-5 is not necessary).

WRITE A LOT OF THEM: “Since a haiku is the spontaneous response to a certain
moment, haiku poets normally product many haiku and discard those that don’t work, rather
than revising one poem over and over” (Finch 132).

BE SEASONAL & CONCRETE: “Conventionally, a haiku takes place in nature during a
specific season, and it consists almost entirely of a concrete description of objects, often
connecting two things that seem unrelated. A haiku is traditionally meant to capture the
essence of a moment of pure awareness of life” (Finch 131).

TREAT EACH LINE AS A UNIT: “Each line of a good haiku is traditionally selfcontained and has a strong image or some new information that changes the reader’s
experience of the poem. Haiku emphasizes the feeling of immediacy, sometimes with a kind
of ‘punch line’ effect in the final line” (Finch 131).

USE ORDINARY WORDS, BUT BE FAR FROM ORDINARY
o "When Buson's disciple, Shoha, questioned him about haikai, Buson answered, 'The
essence of haikai is to use ordinary words and yet to become separate from the
ordinary'" (Shiffert 225).
o "How to become separate from the ordinary is most difficult. A well-known Zen
priest said, 'You should try to listen to the sound of one hand clapping.' This is the
Zen of haikai and the way of being separated from the ordinary."

"Haiku do not usually give an open statement of a poet's opinions, but by what he chooses to
include in a haiku, the 'egoless' poet is known" (Shiffert 33).

Most of the time, haiku have no titles. The poem should make perfect sense on its own,
although some haiku poets have said where they were at the time, such as a particular town
or mountain.

Be careful not to write the haiku as a riddle where the reader needs to figure out what it is.

If you find that you are writing something that does not meet the definition above, then it is
probably a senryu and not a true haiku.

Whatever you choose for capitalization or punctuation, stay consistent.

In some circles, haiku is also referred to as hakai, so if you come across that word in your
reading, don’t let it throw you off—it’s the same thing.
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 4 of 19
Selections by Various Japanese Haiku Poets
ANONYMOUS
Friend, that open mouth
Reveals your whole interior…
Silly hollow frog!
by BASHŌ (1644-1694)
(Look at these two different translations.)
The butterfly is perfuming
Its wings, in the scent
Of the orchid.
Lady butterfly
Perfumes her wings by floating
Over the orchid
Even the woodpecker
Will not harm this hermitage
Among the summer trees.
Why so scrawny, cat?
Starving for fat fish or mice…
Or backyard love?
Dew drops, let me cleanse
In your brief sweet waters…
These dark hands of life
Nine times arising
To see the moon…whose solemn pace
Marks only midnight yet
by BONCHO
See…the heavy leaf
On the silent windless day…
Falls of its own will
Snow-swallowed valley:
Only the winding river…
Black fluent brushstroke
by CHIYO-NI (She is regarded as one of the greatest female haiku poets.)
The summer moon
Is touched by the line
Of the fishing rod.
Hard the beggar’s bed…
But sociable and busy
With insect-talking
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 5 of 19
by CHORA
Under the winter moon,
The river wind
Sharpens the rocks.
By DANSUI
For the emperor
Himself he will not lift his hat…
A stiff-backed scarecrow
by GOCHIKU
The long night;
The sound of the water
Says what I think.
by KIKAKU
Stillness…then the bat
Flying among the willows
Black against green sky
Oh lucky beggar! ...
Bright heaven and cool earth
Your summer outfit
by NAOJO
To pluck it is a pity,
To leave it is a pity,
Ah, this violet!
by OEMARU
Wee bitter cricket
Crying all this sunny day…
Or is he laughing?
by ONITSURA
Dirty bath-water
Where can I pour you?…
Insects singing in the grass
by OTSUYU
The swallow
Turns a somersault;
What has it forgotten?
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 6 of 19
by RYOTA/RYOTO
Being chased,
The fire-fly
Hides in the moon.
Two ancient pine-trees…
A pair of gnarled and sturdy hands
With ten green fingers
by RYUSUI
A lost child crying
Stumbling over the dark fields…
Catching fireflies
by SAMPU
I raised my knife to it:
Then walked empty-handed on…
Proud Rose of Sharon
by SHIKI
I surmise
From the shadow of the clothes-pole,
It is the depth of winter.
by SHOHA
Yellow evening sun…
Long shadow of the scarecrow
Reaches to the road
by SOKAN
Take the round flat moon
Snap this twig for handle…
What a pretty fan!
by TAIFI
Rash tom-cat lover…
Careless even of that rice
Stuck to your whiskers
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 7 of 19
Selected Haiku by Yosa BUSON (1716—1783)
SPRING HAIKU by BUSON
A short nap, then
awakening--the spring
day darkened.
Flowers of the pear-reading a letter by moonlight,
a woman.
Into an old well's
darkness falls
a camellia!
A camellia falls,
and the rain of yesterday
spilling out.
When down off the horse
the height of the cherry blossoms
can be realized.
With blossoms fallen
in spaces between the twigs a temple
has appeared.
SUMMER HAIKU by BUSON
The night is brief-on a hairy caterpillar
jewels of dew.
Coolnessseparating from the bell,
the bell's voice.
The rainy season,
and the river with no name
a frightening thing.
Evading the fishnet,
and evading the fishing ropes,
the moon on the water.
A summer river
being crossed, how pleasing!
Sandals in my hands.
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 8 of 19
AUTUMN HAIKU by BUSON
It goes into me-the comb of my long gone wife,
to step on it in the bedroom.
White dewdrops!
Enough to dampen the hair
on the hunter's chest.
Autumn wind-reciting poems in the wine shop,
fishermen and woodcutters.
The bottomless
pail tumbles and walks around
in the autumn storm.
Three times it cried out
but now not heard anymore,
a deer in the rain.
Sunlight aslant
at the border gate, and on the spears
dragonflies!
A village of a hundred houses
and not even a single gate
without chrysanthemums.
The highway robber
now a disciples with shaven head
on an autumn journey.
WINTER HAIKU by BUSON
Treading on the dishes,
rates make a noise
of coldness!
To strike the temple bell,
I go out from my bed-quilts-the cold!
Silence
in a field with oak trees.
The winter moon.
Snow snapping off twigs,
I hear it in the darkness
of the night.
A nipping wind!
Tearing into the rock,
the voice of the water.
When the axe cuts in,
surprise at the perfume-woods in winter.
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 9 of 19
OTHER HAIKU by BUSON
(Look at these two different translations.)
The scissors hesitate
Before the white chrysanthemums,
A moment.
White chrysanthemum…
Before that perfect flower
Scissors hesitate
You can see the morning breeze
Blowing the hairs
Of the caterpillar.
Treading on the tail
Of the copper pheasant,
The setting sun of spring.
Over the gold screen,
Whose silk gauze dress?
The autumn wind.
Voices of two bells
That speak from twilight temples…
Ah! Cool dialogue
Butterfly asleep
Folded soft on temple bell…
Then bronze gong rang!
Old weary willows…
I thought how long the road would be
When you went away
No oil to read by…
I am off to bed. But ah!
My moonlit pillow
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 10 of 19
Selected Haiku by Kobayashi ISSA (1763—1827)
Striking the fly,
I hit also
a flowering plant. *
Good friend grasshopper
will you play the caretaker
for my little grave?*
It must certainly
be a holiday today
even for the rain
Summer’s first melon
lies firmly hugged to the breast
of a sleeping child
Lacking a thresher,
I beat the summer wheat
against my house
A cut bamboo sprout—
were it not for hungry men
it would have blossomed
In the old temple,
even the snake has shed
his worldly skin
A summer’s estate:
my little grass mat spread out
in the piney shade
The firefly departs
so quickly, so breathlessly
it leaves its light behind
If you really must
leap, my little fleas, why not
leap on the lotus?
My home is so poor
even the resident flies
keep their family small
Hearing our voices,
the doe moves quickly to stand
beside her fawn
In Kakikazi,
even the mountain cuckoo
stutters nervously
The mare’s vigilance:
watchful while her foal drinks
deeply from the spring
When the mosquito
in the cherry grove bit me,
I cursed even the blooms
Everyone knows the motherless boy;
he stands alone in the door,
chewing his thumb from hunger
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 11 of 19
In night’s blind darkness,
fruitlessly searching for
the baby she loves,
the mother crow continued
to cry until sunrise.
The fat toad looks like
he just burped a huge cloud
filling the sky
The high distant cry
of the stag tells the hunter
how to blow his horn
Trying to pick up
the dewdrop, the child’s amazed—
it disappears!
A towel for a headband,
a bald head labors slowly
among chrysanthemums
With the slightest
parting of my lips, thousands
of plovers take flight
A good day begins
with charcoal popping hot
and a good deep cough
Time to purify:
midwinter water dragons
writhe across men’s backs
[Visiting a bath house in Edo for the customary midwinter
purification bath, (a Shinto custom), Issa saw his fellow bathers were
steeplejacks, firemen, and yazuka, or gangsters identifiable by their
large tattoos.]
The blossoming plum
stoop-shouldered like an old man
loaded with wishes
The young sparrows
return to Jizo’s sleeve
for sanctuary
(Jizo is the patron god of children and travelers.)
A gust of spring wind—
unhappily—lifts the skirts
of the roof thatcher
In falling spring mist
the cat learns festival dance—
taught by a small girl
If you are kindly,
they will s*** all over you,
happy young sparrows
A new fawn twitches,
shaking free a butterfly,
then naps once again
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 12 of 19
The third crescent moon,
this spring night so very cold
its back too is curved
The young bush warbler,
with a bright yellow voice,
calls for its parents
Where does it come from,
such bitter winter cold,
I ask you, scarecrow?
Swatting the housefly
on the blossom, I also crush
the flower
The distant mountains
are reflected in the eye
of the dragonfly
Nearly frostbitten,
the village prostitute scrapes
soot from an iron pan
Peeking through the fence
on a tranquil sunny day—
a young mountain monk
After a long nap,
the cat yawns, rises, and goes out
looking for love
It is true even
among this world’s insects:
some sing well, some not
This mountain moonlight
gently illuminates
the flower thief
The field worker
wipes his snotty fingers
on the plum blossom
The great daimyo
slowly dismounts from his horse—
cherry blossoms
From birthing’s washbowl
to the washbowl of the dead—
blathering nonsense!
I am going out…
Be good and play
Together
My cricket children
Cruel autumn wind
Cutting to the very bones
Of my poor scarecrow
I must turn over…
Beware of local earthquakes
Bedfellow cricket!
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 13 of 19
Oh former renter
I know it all, all…down to
The very cold you felt
Buddha on the hill…
From your holy nose indeed
Hangs an icicle
Haiku and tanka of which Issa was particularly fond
You’ve fallen silent,
my toad. Is it all the words
that bloat you so?
KYOKUSUI
In its final throes,
the dying carp spins, splashing
water with its fins.
Likewise people waste their lives
in useless activities.
MITSUTOSHI’s tanka
Sent out to sweep snow
from bamboo leaves, is that wind
a stepchild also?
SEISHO
I’d love to slap that
fly on the beautiful face
of my young stepchild
KOSETSU
Both my baby and
the new year struggled to
their feet this morning
TEITOKU
Nursing the handle
of his fan, he’s still thirsting
for his late mother
RAIZAN
How far has he gone,
where has he wandered, chasing
after dragonflies?
KAGA-NO-CHIYO
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 14 of 19
Unwanted, the child
crawls after his mother—
which brings me to tears.
For he can neither rise up
nor face this cold world alone.
TAMEIE
As the doe nurses
her newborn fawn, the arrow
has eyes to find her
RISSHI
Issa, Kobayashi. The Spring of My Life and Selected Haiku. Trans. Sam Hamill. Boston: Shamhala.1997. Print.
*
These two poems were from a different collection.
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 15 of 19
Contemporary Haiku and Senryu
DAVID ELLIOTT
Thick window frost—
through a melted finger hole
blue sky
DEE EVETTS
summer’s end
the quickening of hammers
toward dusk
with a flourish
the waitress leaves behind
rearranged smears
unexpected news
she stands staring into
the cutlery drawer
GARY GAY
Weight lifter
slowly lifting
the tea cup
LEROY GORMAN
stripping wallpaper into the nite
my wife uncovers someone
else’s bedroom
LEE GURGA
candlelight dinner—
his finger slowly circles
the rim of the glass
graduation day—
my son & I side by side
knotting our ties
DORIS HEITMEYER
between lace curtains
the white cat’s eyes
follow a snowflake
Sierra sunrise…
pine needles sinking deeper
in a patch of snow
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 16 of 19
CLEMENT HOYT
A Hallowe’en mask,
floating face up in the ditch,
slowly shakes its head.
DAVID LLOYD
The longest night:
Only the snowman stares
At the stars
SCOTT MONTGOMERY
evening lecture
a shadow hangs
from the pointing finger
MARLENE MOUNTAIN
empty mailbox
i pick wildflowers
on my way back
CARL PATRICK
not a cloud in sight
I put the red flag up
on the mailbox
JOHN STEVENSON
under the
blackest doodle
something unerasable
COR VAN DEN HEUVEL
snowstorm
a baseball glove
under the Christmas tree
MICHAEL DYLAN WELCH
morning bird song—
my paddle slips
into its reflection
ROD WILLMOT
weak sun
silverware dries cold
under the open window
humiliated again
bar-smoke in the sweater
I pull from my head
ARIZONA ZIPPER
(What a cool name!)
In the puddle
another raindrop
jiggles the fun house.
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 17 of 19
NICHOLAS VIRGILIO
the cathedral bell
is shaking a few snowflakes
from the morning air
the sack of kittens
sinking in the icy creek,
increases the cold
deep in rank grass,
through a bullet-riddled helmet:
an unknown flower
—In memory of Lawrence J. Virgilio
the autumn wind
has torn the telegram and more
from mother’s hand
flag-covered coffin:
the shadow of the bugler
slips into the grave
Selected haiku and senryu from The Haiku Anthology.
van den Heuvel, C., ed. The Haiku Anthology. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999.
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 18 of 19
Just for Fun: Haiku Jokes
Here is an e-mail I received a long time ago. I forget who sent it, but it’s pretty funny. By now
you know that these are not true haiku, but rather, senryu.
In Japan, they have replaced the impersonal and unhelpful Microsoftgazer Error messages with
Haiku poetry messages. Haiku is used to communicate a timeless message often achieving a
wistful, yearning and powerful insight through extreme brevity—the essence of Zen:
Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
The Website you seek
Cannot be located, but
Countless more exist.
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
Program aborting:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.
Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
First snow, then silence.
This thousand-dollar screen dies
So beautifully.
With searching comes loss
And the presence of absence:
"My Novel" not found.
The Tao that is seen
Is not the true Tao-until
You bring fresh toner.
Stay the patient course.
Of little worth is your ire.
The network is down.
A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.
Three things are certain:
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.
Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.
Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.
Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.
Poetry Course: Haiku Packet / Revised August 2012 / Instructor: Garcia / Page 19 of 19