Kurimoto Japanese Garden

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image: japanese garden

Earth isn't what it seems.
It's a stone lantern amid leaves;
Love creates its light.

        ~ Chris Bullock

Some English-language haijin (haiku poets) write in the style learned in school, a 5-7-5 syllable construction with punctuation and capitalization. It was the dominant style until the English-Language haiku poets realized that Japanese writers were using a 5-7-5 Japanese sound units or morae. Thus a 5-7-5 morae poem in Japanese is shorter than a 5-7-5 syllable poem. These days most Engliish-language haiku average 13 syllables and come in different line lengths, e.g., 3-6-4 or 3-3-5 syllables. Most use what is called "show" rather that "tell" phrasings. This one contains more tell, the poet's thoughts, than show, working mostly is descriptive detail. If you're interested in the show vs tell distinction, visit this website -> Show vs tell.

For me, this poet's poem is more like a small free-verse, but what does it matter? There's a lovely thought and phrasing in the poem.

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