Haiku to make you smile

I was going to write this post about Death Haiku but given the recent posts, decided it could wait for another time – if you’re keen to read up on the topic (which is more interesting and less morbid than it sounds) you could start with this essay by Robert Epstein, who published a book about death haiku in 2011.

What has been in short supply for the past few weeks are some smiles, so here are some haiku/senryu that might make you grin, smile wryly or even laugh out loud.

zinnias . . .
why yes my favourite
was Harpo

– Scott Mason, The Heron’s Nest 11.3

(If you don’t get this one, read about Harpo Marx here.)

letting rip a fart –
it doesn’t make you laugh
when you live alone

– Karai Senryu 1718-90, from The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse (1964)

 

separated
my bread
sprouts a beard

– Ernest J Berry, Commended, Free xPresSion contest 2014

eye surgery
I sign my consent
on the bottom blur

– Karen Peterson Butterworth, a taste of nashi (2008)

 

seven calories per stamp
i write too many letters

– Janice Bostok (1942-2011)

 

stopped to allow geese crossing some idiot honks

– Janice Bostok (1942-2011)

barbecue –
hairs on the cook’s belly
sprinkled with salt

– David Cobb, Jumping from Kiyomizu

David Cobb and Janice Bostok have both penned articles about humour in haiku. David’s article; Janice’s article.