Jack Kerouac, the American novelist and poet, was fascinated by the Japanese Haiku poetic form, usually involving a short poem with seventeen syllables packed into three short lines.
He adapted this form to create his own “Western Haiku” which “must be very simple, free of all poetic trickery and make a little picture, yet be as airy and graceful as a Vivaldi Pastoral”. I go one step further and make actual “little pictures” of what I see in Kerouac’s verses.
Haiku
Run after that
body - run after
A raging fire
The moon
the falling star -
Look elsewhere
Satisfied, the pine
bough washing
In the waters…
Dawn wind
In the spruces
- The late moon
After the shower
My cat meowing
On the porch
Everything was everlastingly loose and, responsive,
it was everywhere beyond the truth,
beyond empty blue space
Everything was everlastingly loose and responsive
it was all everywhere beyond the truth
beyond empty blue space
Misurgirafical & plomified
ding dong
The Buddha’s gong
The moon
is a
Blind lemon
The taste
Of rain
- Why kneel
Your belly’s too big
for your
Little teeth
Barley soup in Scotland,
in November,
Misery everywhere
Menere says: "Planets are,
far apart so people,
Can't bother each other
How flowers love,
The sun,
Blinking there
A black bull,
and a white bird,
Standing together on the shore
Rainy night,
The top leaves wave
In the gray sky
Or, walking the same or different
paths
The moon follows each
I drink my tea,
and say,
Hm hm
The rain drops have plenty,
of personality,
Each one
Dust in the holy,
woods -
Dust on my window
Me, you, me,
Everybody -
He-he
The yellow dolls bow,
Poor lady,
Is dead
Me, you - you, me,
Everybody -
He - he
Water in a hole,
- behold,
The sodden skies
I went into the woods,
to meditate -
It was too cold
White clouds of this steamy planet,
obstruct,
My vision of the blue void
In the late afternoon,
peaks, I see,
The hope
Why'd I open my eyes?
because,
I wanted to
All that ocean of blue,
soon as those clouds,
Pass away
Two ants hurry,
To catch up,
With lonely Jo
The pine woods
move
In the mist
Morning sun -
The purple petals
Four have fallen
Ship paint
On
An old T-shirt
Snow melting
Streams rushing -
Lookouts leave the valley
Man - nothing but,
a,
Rain barrel
Debris on the lake
my soul
Is upset
There’s nothing there
because
I don’t care
All the insects ceased,
In honour,
Of the moon
The taste
of rain -
Why kneel?
Full moon, white snow
my bottle
of purple yellow
I'm so mad
I could bite
The mountain tops
I’m back here in the middle
of nowhere -
At least I think so
