One haiku poet is often mentioned in conjunction with the Big Three (Bashō, Buson, and Issa): Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902). Why is Shiki such a big deal? He must have done something significant in his short lifetime. Right?
Indeed he did. Whether they know it or not, everyone writing and enjoying haiku today owes Shiki a huge debt, not the least of which is for the term haiku itself.
Haiku as a form derives from the hokku, which was the initial verse in a renga, a series of linked verses typically composed in an interactive collaboration with other poets. The hokku ultimately became a standalone form, which Bashō is mostly credited for elevating into a high art.
By Shiki’s lifetime, however, hokku had degenerated to puns, wordplay, and dad jokes. Shiki deliberately took up the cause of reviving haiku and restoring to its previous exalted place in the arts. Part of that revival was formalizing the hokku as a distinct form by giving it the name we all love: haiku.
(If that weren’t enough, he is often credited with rekindling public interest in the haiku of Buson, whose fame had centered around his masterful painting.)
As a haiku poet myself, Bashō wows me, Issa inspires me, and Buson touches me. But reading Shiki literally shakes me up. Work harder! Study more! Fail better!
I’m trying, Masaoka, I’m trying real hard. Meanwhile, here are the paltry excuses for haiku I feebly wrote onto postcards and had the gall to mail out to people this past week.
haiku 20221205 » Chippenham, Wiltshire UK
poff! poff! poff! my city dog discovers country leaf piles
haiku 20221206 » Salvador, BA Brazil
world cup soccer the dream of a lifetime watching with my son
haiku 20221207 » Salvador, BA Brazil
awake before dawn choosing the warm bed over getting up to write
haiku 20221208 » Singapore
gift shop buddha -- even this humble cottage becomes a temple
haiku 20221209 » Sarasota, FL USA
old snapshot whatever became of those sunglasses?
haiku 20221210 » Kansas City, MO USA
invisible world deer scat on the front walk I swept yesterday
haiku 20221211 » El Dorado Hill, CA USA
yellow leaves pasted against the wet patio I can't stop looking
There you go, all seven. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to get back to failing better. And oh yeah, if you want a haiku postcard, all you gotta do is ask.