………………..HAIKU……………..”An old silent pond…A frog jumps into the pond….Splash silence again”, Matsuo Basho………..”The west wind whispered…and touched the eyelids of spring…Her eyes opened wide”, R.M. Hansard…….In pale moonlight…the wisteria’s scent…comes from far away”, Yosa Buson……..”The earth shakes…just enough…to remind us”, Steve Stanfield………”A world of dew is…a world of dew, and yet and yet…A world of dew”, Kobayashi Issa……..”The taste…of rain…why kneel”, Jack Kerouac………”Over the winter…forest, winds howl in rage…with no leaves to blow”, Natsume Sose……..”The lamp once out…cool stars enter…the window frame”, Natsume Soseki………”The snow of yesterday…That fell like cherry blossoms…is water once again”, Gozan…….”A caterpillar…this deep into fall…still not a butterfly”, Matsuo Basho………”losing its name…a river…enters the sea”, John Sanbach……..”everything I touch…with tenderness alas…pricks like a bramble”, Kobayashi Issa…….”First autumn morning…the mirror I stare into…shows my father’s face”, Murakami Kijo……….”lily…out of water…out of itself”, Rick Viriglio………..”The childless woman….how tenderly she caresses…homeless dolls”, Hatiori Ransetsu……….”I want to sleep…swat the flies…softly please”, Masaoka Shiki……….”Delightful display….snowdrops show their pure white faces…to the sun’s glory”, Paul Holmes……….”love between us is…speech and breath, loving you is….a long river running” Sonia Sanchez……………….I remember in high school being taught by my fabulous English teach, Miss Erlich, about Haiku……..I wonder if this form of poetry is still being taught?……They captured my imagination.