MY HAIKU

These are a few of the many Haiku inspired poems I have written. They follow a structure of three lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables.... 

 

“I know what you mean”  -
Giving the impression that
he now understands.

A stone is to a
mountain like a small drop of
water, an ocean.

A thrown pebble  -
Disturbing a tranquil pond,
like one careless word.

Priest preaching morals,
“Adultery is wrong”  -  With
mistress looking on.

Sex is often free  -
But you may have to pay for
it in the morning.

People ask questions  -
Listening for the answers
that prove what they know.

To a frog, a pond’s
an ocean, for a whale
it’s just a puddle.

Death generally
takes care of itself  -  It is
life that needs a hand.

“I hear what you are
saying”  -  Usually meaning
“I just don’t agree”.

Our true humanness  -
Forever masked by the roles
we are paid to play.

“Violence is wrong”,
children are told  -  As we hit
them for doing wrong.

“Violence doesn’t
solve anything”, he said, whilst
marching off to war.

We have all been born,
One day we will all die  -  What
shall we do till then?

“That’s not true”, she screamed,
without much thought  -  As if she
really knew what was.

Briefcase in one hand,
mobile in the other  -
Oh, such importance!

No size of wealth stops
you dying  -  But you’ll have an
expensive coffin!

The rain in England  -
Without it what would people
find to talk about?

 

 

Ignorance  -  Fear of
the unknown, of what you
don’t yet understand.

“Cars are choking us”,
she demonstrates, whilst lighting
her next cigarette.

“I have no time to
do it”, he moans, wasting yet
more precious time.

When someone stands for
election, ask them why they
crave so much power.

Your deep jealousy  -
Stopping me being me for
fear of losing you.

Another black eye  -
“I’m sorry”, he begged, clenching
his other fist tight!

I kill you for your
beliefs, you kill me for mine  -
Unbelievable!

If exploring space
seems a challenge, try feeding
the hungry on earth.

Personal insults  -
Just words from the weak to help
them feel powerful.

“I hate drug pushers”,
the barman said, whilst selling
another whisky.

Like drinking salty
water never quenches a
thirst, “wants” are the same.

“My Dad hitting me
did no harm”, he lied, as he
punched his son again.

“Seeds of violence”
planted daily  -  Watered by
lack of awareness.

Change  -  Without it, all
children would stay children and
flowers remain seeds.

We moan about rain,
but without it, no water  -
No water, we die.

In wars, missing the
true enemies  -  Ambition,
power, hatred, greed.

Oh, little snail,
house on your back  -  Wherever
you go you’re at home.

Criticised through life,
eulogised when dead  -  The tears
of the hypocrites.

Disfigured by war,
a child cries “why?”  -  Deafened
by the world’s silence.

A “lucky” rabbit’s
foot  -  Not so lucky for the
three legged rabbit!

“He’s an invalid”,
he called him  -  Does he really
think he’s not valid?

Masked by other names,
camouflaged in plastic  -  Dead
animals disguised.

A stifled cry, the
crack of bone  -  Torment behind
an anguished curtain.

“Independence!”, she
demanded, whilst taking more
money from Daddy.

I curse my knee, it
hurts. But it’s not my knee’s fault  -
It’s a sensation.

“I” am today due
to the conditions around
me  -  These can all change.

Planting seeds of  hope
throughout a desert  -  Waiting
patiently for rain.

Better to do small
things with good intentions, than
bigger things with bad.

Protesting for “Peace”
at the Air Force base  -  The same
day he raped a friend.

“My young son is so
violent”, she sighed  -  After
hitting him again.

My corpse is with me
already  -  The difference
is it’s still alive.

“Child is battered
to death with a spoon”  -  We must
ban all cutlery!

“I was drunk, couldn’t
help myself” - The same excuse
of the selfish fool.

“Here’s some charity”,
said the spider to the fly -
Before eating him!

What is worst - Being
dead and buried or alive
and dead to the world?

We inhabit the
earth, bugs and germs inhabit
us - Who was here first?

Fear of death? No way!
We love war, guns and killing -
Perhaps we fear life?

“I know it all”, the
student boasted, “I’ve written
a dissertation!”

The price of free speech
for us is hearing things from
others we don’t like.

Nothing exists till
passing our senses and
processed by the mind.

Accumulating
views, beliefs, ideas, concepts  -
An unmade jigsaw.

Mouth opens, rubbish
falls out  -  Mindlessly building
mountains of nonsense.

The way to stop war
is to stop hating those we
call the enemy.

Shouting, condemning
the USA  -  The young boy
wears a Nike shirt.

Apathy will give
political dictators
the power they crave.

There is always ‘choice’,
however difficult the
Consequences seem.

 

Copyright: Gordon Warren