Tag Archives: haiku

Great Wave Off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai’s (1760-1849) 1831 woodcut
haiku, poetry

The Great Wave

So many eyes have seen this sea, they’re blind.

one of thirty-six
fishermen brave the high sea —
mighty fuji’s seen

meditate on where
oh, place the kento1 with care —
every part is spare

the sea’s our lover
her lovers brave her fury  —
lapis lazuli 2

my love’s a dragon 
Edo3 sees the fickle sea — 
push the brush away

So many eyes have seen this sea, they're blind.

@ rlbusséll 2021 - All rights reserved.
Great Wave Off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai’s (1760-1849) 1831 woodcut

Panorama of Edo from Atagoyama by Felice Beato (1865 or 1866)
Panorama of Edo from Atagoyama by Felice Beato (1865 or 1866)



  1. The Japanese printing “registration” system. Registration is a method printers use to guarantee that each print in a series is aligned the same way. ↩
  2. a bright blue metamorphic rock consisting largely of lazurite,
    a bright blue pigment formerly made by crushing, being the original ultramarine. ↩
  3. Edo = Tokyo ↩
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haiku, poetry

Z Haiku

Zappa’s zeitgeisty.
Zaniest zebra’s zigzag —
Zaftig’s zipper zips.

© rl busséll 2018 – All rights reserved.

Alphabet Haiku Challenge

  • Every word in the haiku must begin with the same letter

When written in English, it generally follows the syllabic pattern 5-7-5

  • Haiku/Senryu Poetry – Here is an in-depth description of Haiku/Senryu Poem (also called human haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Senryu is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of human nature or emotions. They possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature/seasonal haiku.

This Alphabet Haiku Challenge is brought to you by Abigail Gronway (poet extraordinaire) of the Dark Side of the Moon fame, please visit her site whenever you get a hankering for good poetry.

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haiku, poetry

Y Haiku

Yearly yachtsmen yearn.
Yearly Yellow yawns yeastlike —
yobbo yodels, yells

© rl busséll 2018 – All rights reserved.

Alphabet Haiku Challenge

  • Every word in the haiku must begin with the same letter

When written in English, it generally follows the syllabic pattern 5-7-5

  • Haiku/Senryu Poetry – Here is an in-depth description of Haiku/Senryu Poem (also called human haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Senryu is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of human nature or emotions. They possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature/seasonal haiku.

This Alphabet Haiku Challenge is brought to you by Abigail Gronway (poet extraordinaire) of the Dark Side of the Moon fame, please visit her site whenever you get a hankering for good poetry.

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haiku, poetry

X Haiku

Xenogenesis
Xanthic-roots, xanthorhiza —
Xeric Xerxes

© rl busséll 2018 – All rights reserved

The X-factor

English is not replete
with words with “x” as heads.
There are, to be sure, four-hundreds
but only a few that are not tourists.
My mouth, I swear, uses but four
or at the most twenty and four.

And after this attempt at sponsorship
I’m sure the “x” will stay
“hidden” in words like,
Xanadu, xanthin, or xylophone
and never etched in stone
or grace haiku with less
than sonorous tone.

© rl busséll 2018 – All rights reserved

Alphabet Haiku Challenge

  • Every word in the haiku must begin with the same letter

When written in English, it generally follows the syllabic pattern 5-7-5

  • Haiku/Senryu Poetry – Here is an in-depth description of Haiku/Senryu Poem (also called human haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Senryu is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of human nature or emotions. They possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature/seasonal haiku.

This Alphabet Haiku Challenge is brought to you by Abigail Gronway (poet extraordinaire) of the Dark Side of the Moon fame, please visit her site whenever you get a hankering for good poetry.

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poetry

W Haiku

wintertime waxes
westerly wind whistles white —
wascally wabbit

© rl busséll 2018 – All rights reserved

Alphabet Haiku Challenge

  • Every word in the haiku must begin with the same letter

When written in English, it generally follows the syllabic pattern 5-7-5

  • Haiku/Senryu Poetry – Here is an in-depth description of Haiku/Senryu Poem (also called human haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Senryu is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of human nature or emotions. They possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature/seasonal haiku.

This Alphabet Haiku Challenge is brought to you by Abigail Gronway (poet extraordinaire) of the Dark Side of the Moon fame. Please visit her site whenever you get the hankering for good poetry.

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haiku

V Haiku Two

Vole’s v-shaped valley
vividly viridian —
Vivid Vincent vibe.

© rl busséll 2018 – All rights reserved

Alphabet Haiku Challenge

  • Every word in the haiku must begin with the same letter

When written in English, it generally follows the syllabic pattern 5-7-5

  • Haiku/Senryu Poetry – Here is an in-depth description of Haiku/Senryu Poem (also called human haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Senryu is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of human nature or emotions. They possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature/seasonal haiku.

Image: Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, Oil on Canvas, June 1889 Museum of Modern Art, New York

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haiku, poetry

V Haiku One

V-day vividness,
via victory vigil —
vacuums vibrating

© rl busséll 2018 – All rights reserved

Alphabet Haiku Challenge

  • Every word in the haiku must begin with the same letter

When written in English, it generally follows the syllabic pattern 5-7-5

    • Haiku/Senryu Poetry – Here is an in-depth description of Haiku/Senryu Poem (also called human haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Senryu is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of human nature or emotions. They possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature/seasonal haiku.

This Alphabet Haiku Challenge is brought to you by Abigail Gronway (poet extraordinaire) of the Dark Side of the Moon fame, please visit her site whenever you get the hankering for good poetry.

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haiku, poetry

T Haiku

Tyger-terrible,
twist, thunder, tear, tower tall —
tell t’all times time’s tale.

© rl busséll 2018 – All rights reserved.

Alphabet Haiku Challenge

  • Every word in the haiku must begin with the same letter

When written in English, it generally follows the syllabic pattern 5-7-5

  • Haiku/Senryu Poetry – Here is an in-depth description of Haiku/Senryu Poem (also called human haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Senryu is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of human nature or emotions. They possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature/seasonal haiku.
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haiku, poetry

S Haiku

season: summer sun,
setting: silken sabbath seat —
solid sinai slabs

© rl busséll 2018 – All rights reserved

Alphabet Haiku Challenge

  • Every word in the haiku must begin with the same letter

When written in English, it generally follows the syllabic pattern 5-7-5

  • Haiku/Senryu Poetry – Here is an in-depth description of Haiku/Senryu Poem (also called human haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Senryu is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of human nature or emotions. They possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature/seasonal haiku.
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haiku, poetry

R Haiku

Rhine river races,
runs, rivers ‘round Rotterdam —
rain rivulets, reign.

© rl busséll 2018 – All rights reserved

Alphabet Haiku Challenge

  • Every word in the haiku must begin with the same letter

When written in English, it generally follows the syllabic pattern 5-7-5

  • Haiku/Senryu Poetry – Here is an in-depth description of Haiku/Senryu Poem (also called human haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Senryu is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of human nature or emotions. They possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature/seasonal haiku.

 

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Letter Q from fifteenth century French woodcut from and edition of Vergil printed by Lambillion
haiku, poetry

Q Haiku

Quixotic questing
queen— quaking, quivering —
quaffed — quad-Quentão.

© rl busséll 2018 – All rights reserved.

Alphabet Haiku Challenge

  • Every word in the haiku must begin with the same letter
  • When written in English, it generally follows the syllabic pattern 5-7-5
  • Haiku/Senryu Poetry – Here is an in-depth description of Haiku/Senryu Poem (also called human haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Senryu is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of human nature or emotions. They possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature/seasonal haiku.

Letter Q from fifteenth century French woodcut from and edition of Vergil printed by Lambillion

The Letter Q fifteenth century French woodcut from an edition of Vergil printed by Lambillion

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poetry

P Haiku

Play Parcheesi. Place piece,
pachyderm, pente paces —
Pause. Pick pensively.

© rl busséll 2018 – All rights reserved
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Alphabet Haiku Challenge

  • Every word in the haiku must begin with the same letter

When written in English, it generally follows the syllabic pattern 5-7-5

  • Haiku/Senryu Poetry – Here is an in-depth description of Haiku/Senryu Poem (also called human haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Senryu is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of human nature or emotions. They possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature/seasonal haiku.
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