The below haiku were written in 2022 on my Twitter account at the time. That account has since been deleted (a result of the hate-filled Musk era) and reimagined here in hopes of creating a safe space in that odd sphere. I don’t post often anymore, but hope to soon. I mainly use Twitter these days to keep up with the world of chess (a soap opera that is easy to lose yourself in), Alejandro Jodorowsky’s daily teachings, and the occasional update from Fernando Arrabal.
Thanks to Twitter’s limitations on poll lengths, I did not adhere to the “traditional”* 5-7-5 syllabic limit of haiku, but instead a 25 character limit per line. I posted these haiku as polls. I then reorganized the haiku based on the number of votes each line got.
*I do not adhere to the belief that haiku in English should stick to the essentially arbitrary 5-7-5 syllabic limitation. While Japanese haiku uses 17 morae, that doesn’t quite translate to English-language syllables. Instead these are short, three line poems inspired by haiku.
#1: 08/29/2022 (original)
#1: 08/29/2022 (final)
a mountain of wet grey
this dream
the beauty of the bruise
the beauty of the bruise
this dream
a mountain of wet grey
#2: 08/30/2022 (original)
#2: 08/30/2022 (final)
a drop of honey
lined with fur
she wept borrowed weather
lined with fur
a drop of honey:
she wept borrowed weather
#3: 08/31/2022 (original)
#3: 08/31/2022 (final)
an open and tired glance
into and out of
time’s wicker basket
an open and tired glance
into and out of
time’s wicker basket
#4: 09/01/2022 (original)
#4: 09/01/2022 (final)
lost trees strip naked
like an encyclopedia
investigating birth
investigating birth,
lost trees strip naked
like an encyclopedia
#5: 09/02/2022 (original)
#5: 09/02/2022 (final)
reflected in her eyes
everything
painted in song
painted in song
everything
reflected in her eyes
#6: 09/03/2022 (original)
#6: 09/03/2022 (final)
the sea, a wilting rose
falling into the sky
like a ship of bone
like a ship of bone
falling into the sky
the sea, a wilting rose
#7: 09/04/2022 (original)
#7: 09/04/2022 (final)
where the sun is drowning
light mimics diamonds
in desolate violin skies
in desolate violin skies
where the sun is drowning
light mimics diamonds
#8: 09/05/2022 (original)
#8: 09/05/2022 (final)
a mountain dug away
rain playing cards alone
and time borrows itself
and time borrows itself
a mountain dug away
rain playing cards alone
#9: 09/06/2022 (original)
#9: 09/06/2022 (final)
the scream & silence
sitting in the dark
the labyrinth & lightbulb
the labyrinth & lightbulb
the scream & silence
sitting in the dark
#10: 09/07/2022 (original)
#10: 09/07/2022 (final)
the skin of a hurricane
dancing in its own breeze
she is weeping
the skin of a hurricane
dancing in its own breeze
-she is weeping
#11: 09/08/2022 (silence)
#11: 09/08/2022 (silence)
There was no haiku for 09/08/2022. One can blame the lapse on the death of the Queen, or on my own lack of willpower.
There was no haiku for 09/08/2022. One can blame the lapse on the death of the Queen, or on my own lack of willpower.
#12: 09/09/2022 (original)
#12: 09/09/2022 (final)
(reflection of sunlight
;;swapping our hearts;;
in secret (twig & spine))
(reflection of sunlight
in secret (twig & spine))
;;swapping our hearts;;
#13: 09/10/2022 (original)
#13: 09/10/2022 (final)
love’s skeleton sings
both mountain & footstep
an organ painted in cloud
an organ painted in cloud
love’s skeleton sings
both mountain & footstep
Please let me know what you think of this experiment in the comments below. And please let me know if I should resume this series on Twitter, or even here on WordPress. Finally do not hesitate to reach out if you are interested in collaborating on haiku or renga.
Kristopher Biernat 
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