Haiku

Today I was minding my own business when I yawned. Nothing unusual there, but then I "covered" myself (when I was by myself!!??) by saying "Ho hum -- Hobo Humble." Hobo Humble?? Where did that come from? My imaginative psyche was playing tricks with my conscious self. I reached for my note book and penned, within minutes, the following haiku:

Hobo

Nothing's more humble

Than a hobo on the road

Thumbing for a ride.

Now, that might not be exactly true. A hobo may be a snob, or greedy, or just a pain. But most likely, a hobo will walk where he needs to go. To humble himself to ask for help from a motorist is quite a step.

I had been writing for several years (at least five, I think), when I began writing haiku while working security at the Hitachi plant here in Greenville. Though what I write is probably not, for the most part, classic haiku, I do stick to the 17 sylable, 5-7-5 meter. My first stuff was only in 17 sylable stanzas with no conscious effort at 5-7-5. I rewrote some of them when I learned about the 5-7-5 form. I have recently read a book by a Zen Budhist that insisted it was a spiritual excercise and required "nature" themes. I disagree. But then I probably won't ever be a "haiku master."

But, just in case, I CAN produce that kind of stuff, almost off the cuff:

Rain

The water was wet,

Falling hard down from the sky

With life for the ground.

That "came to me" soon after a thunder shower on June 25, 2006.

Or maybe I should finish one of my novels. ??