English Haiku

There are few things more tedious than bad haiku written in English. They are the bane of every college, literature class. Here’s mine:

A SUMMER HAIKU FOR MY MOM

To use a poetic form that is best suited for one language to compose a poem in another is always touch-and-go. And haiku is one such form. I think this works better as two lines rather than three.

I wrote this in August of 2005 after seeing a small kite hung up on power lines and remembering how when I was a child, my mom and I entangled a kite on nearby power lines. I remember looking at my mom mortified and saying: “Wait ’till dad sees this.” My dad was not amused.

for my mom
Summer-colored kite and a boy’s hot tears
Hung up with high-tension lines.

©2005 Kent Gutschke.  All rights reserved..