Basho Haiku

Basho wandered by foot through medieval Japan, kept a diary
of his journeys—prose woven with haiku. There is sublime simplicity in the
poet’s observations:

 A hundred years!

All here in the garden in

these fallen
leaves

 With plum blossom scent,

this morning sun emerges

along a
mountain trail

Basho’s work echoes the ordinary, revels in simplicity, and
invigorates the soul.  

This time, be creative with haiku form. After all, Basho
warned his students, “Do not simply follow in the footsteps of the ancients;
seek what they sought…abide by the rules, then throw them out!”

Concentrate on crafting lines with a designated number of
words instead of syllables:

five words

s e v e n  w o r
d s

five words

But, keep in mind, three lines should be woven to one
thought:

 

and I wait for the

scent stewed with honey, mottled with sun,

to ripen at room temperature

Explore Basho together and have fun writing some haiku. Use this image of pears in a bowl as a jumping off point or create your own still life. We'd love to read your poems so please share them here.

For more about Basho take a look at this wonderful book.