Five minutes slow
My wall clock celebrating
A new year
That was today’s poem for the English-language haiku section on the website of Japan’s oldest daily newspaper, the Mainichi.
365 days a year, the Mainichi publishes reader-submitted haiku in English from readers all over the world.
In certain circumstances, the editors will include critical comments on the haiku, particularly if the submission captures a certain essence of haiku which they feel needs to be emphasized.
Anyone can submit a haiku, which Mainichi retains copyright to use at any time, but which doesn’t prohibit the publishing of the same haiku by the author in a collection.
For the uninitiated, haiku is one of the most attractive poetry formats for beginners and experts. Several different forms exist, but most are three-line poems with set numbers of syllables, such as 3-5-3, 5-7-5, or 3-5-4.
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With so little room to express oneself, haiku often has to balance the poet’s perspective on both the vast and the precise. This makes the Mainichi haiku daily extra-special because readers get to see what different people from different cultures are thinking and feeling every day.
Recently they published their best of 2022. I picked out this one which struck me.
Thunder cracks
In the drawer, one spoon
Clinks against another
KNOW ANY POETS? SHARE With Them This Cool Daily Activity…