Tuesday, January 19, 2016

A collection of old haikus/senryuus/zappais

Nostalgia takes me back to a lesson in Japanese I had long ago delving into haikus. The excitement I had made every day of traveling to CCNY worth it. I learned plenty.

Think haiku and you'll think the form of five, seven, five. However, so many people are unfamiliar of their incorrect usage of the word haiku. Haikus need more than just the five, seven, five to be haikus. They need a cutting word and a reference to nature to truly be haikus. The poems that use the 5-7-5 without these elements of nature could fall under Senryuus if they are commenting on a state of mankind and use some kind of dark irony. Anything using the 5-7-5 form without under technical guideline falls under Zappai.


This post's focus is

to display some of the things
I've made that are Zappai.

Disclaimer of paranoia: These are mostly quick improvisational items using the 5-7-5 form. If they make sense, hooray. If they don't, don't mind the roughness.

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(Based on a friend)
Merrily strolling mom
Venturing child's promises
Grief turns to relief


(Based on rain)
Falling meteors’
surrounding shockwaves send out
source of life and death


(Based on an old fan)
Dusty, rusty blades
blast polluted man-made air
lulling you to sleep


(An old view of mankind)
"Rotting from within,
temples today are meaningless"
A foreigner's words


(Poking fun at being drunk)
Ripples form in the
puddle that arose from a
mere cup of fine wine


(Questioning poetry's power)
What exactly do
few words, stronger feelings do
for answer seekers?


(A masturbation joke)
Hands are places where
only for a brief moment
Joy defeats Sorrow


(Concerns over the planet)
The Reaper tells Earth
"Either you or your children"
When will she reply?


(Realization of poetry's power)
This sheet of paper
holds a desert trapped within
key words of freedom


(Based on walking basslines)
Taking bluesy strolls,
Their footsteps create music
while tightrope walking


(Loveless writer's fear)
Can words be arrows
when fired by a novice
and his broken bow?


(Life of a lonely gamer)
Four controls, one house
Single player is the norm
for those that own all


(Puzzled and exhausted)
I bit the apple.
From trying to solve riddles
I'm numb from writing


(Another assessment of man)
Down the toilet goes
what's considered to be waste.
Earth's constipated


(Goofy winter snapshot)
"If the cold preserves,
why do coats and gloves exist?"
The frozen dummy


(On haiku improvisation)
Quickly delivered
one after another are
skillful weak punches


(Competition)
Healthy rivalries
Great friends, bitter enemies
Love of competing


(Exercise in speaking out)
If this concerns you
the doors will surely open
Or am I too late?


(Based on sound in Marshak Hall:MR2)
Screech never ceases
eerie sound found in science
Won't you let me be?


(Based on my hand)
Five heads looking up
just one hand lies on the desk
Where's the other one?


(Exercise in a twist)
Happy Birthday is
ecstatically yelled for
the lonely deaf kid


(Thoughts on the afterlife)
Soporific cold
Dream until awakened by
malevolent heat


(On pollution and acid rain)
Dragon blasting ash
that pours down upon fools in
refreshing rain


(Exercise in speaking out for Earth)
Listen all that care
Does nature deserve the pain
while nurturing us?


(A self-realization)
Phrasing is enough
For assessment of one’s mind.
My mind is quite small.



(The anguish of a crush)
Seppuku occurs
when the butterflies' venom
cannot be handled.

(Struggle of sobriety)
Hungry body says,
"feed me the green or suffer."
Hungry body stays.

(Reeferless realization)
Life without the funds.
A peaceful, secluded life
that's loved and hated.

(To my old friends)
Now without rhythm
I write to the ghosts. "Hello,
how's the town doing?"

(Zappais are fun)
I like using this form
composed of five, seven, five
to express my thoughts.

(Poetry's pitfall)
Ask yourself, "why write?
For a greater sense of self?"
Fucking narcissist!

(Lost and unable to find)
"Where do I belong?",
asked the small chameleon
with amnesia.
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