Usually the haiku I write are shaped by my experience that day. Mostly I think I am inspired by my garden and the many visitors who frequent it. However, haiku can be about anything, from horror to sci fi to humour. Recently I spent some time playing with allusion, which just means trying to write haiku that refer in some way to another text. I chose Winnie-the-Pooh, my favourite childhood story.
Here is my haiku:
sunrise over
the last heffalump
on the plains
It is playful in referencing the imaginary creature that Pooh bear and friends spent time searching for, whilst also making a deeper point about the plight of wildlife in our world - as we are possibly looking at another mass extinction event. Haiku then are not dull, but rather complex and multilayered.
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