The Way of Haiku

by James Hackett

1) Beneath white roses

on a polished table

petals lie in dust

2) A bitter morning

sparrows sitting together

without any necks.

3) A distant dog

is adding another shade of gray

to the morning.

4) Still on this bath tub

the tiny bug that I had

promised a flower.

5) Empty the night seems

and yet endless flights of birds

caligraph the moon.

6) In this empty web

left by a will to be free

a pair of small wings.

7) The ant's great burden

becomes his bridge across

crevices along the way.

8) Now free in the world

the old parakeet just perches;

his loneliness.

9) Loneliness: for the

child, an opportunity

to play Let's Pretend.

10) The hopscotching child

kneels to the beetle and asks

to be forgiven.

11) Her child exclaimed:

"See this lovely caterpillar?"

but she never came.