Haiku: Less takes longer

The Portland Japanese Garden's Haiku contest (alert: deadline Oct. 8) inspired me to try my hand at this minimalist verse.

That old caution, "I'd have written less if I had more time," certainly applies.

It so happens I found time — deep in the night.

The two haiku that follow took three hours to write. At 34 syllables, that works out to more than five minutes per syllable.

Here's what the time produced:

Chosen forest trail,
Sure as bark and root and map,
Turns — and disappears.


• • •


Off shore, a rogue wave
Fells a granite monolith
As I comb the beach.