Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry comprised of three phrases.
Traditional haiku uses 17 syllables (5:7:5) but contemporary haiku in English often ignores this rule. A haiku is typically about nature, the earth and the natural world and are designed to be thought-provoking. These original haiku poems are by Anthony Rutledge and are mostly written in the contemporary free style format.
There are over 2,000 Haiku on this site in ten different themes: Australian, Beach, Garden Sundial, In the Mirror,Kimono,Motherhood,Ships and Oceans,Spring,Windjammers and Miscellaneous.
Mantelpiece
how his youth fits
father's photos.
Sundial garden
then in winter nests
just sparrow bones.
Sundial garden
a cricket chirp short
of twilight.
In the mirror
her private tattoos
between them.
In the mirror
her mother brushing
long blonde hair.
In the mirror
licking at her sleep
the Labrador's tongue.
In the mirror
my dripping raincoat ...
a spider from one pocket.
Lake mirror
only moonlight
to support our canoe.
In the mirror
playing to an empty room
the pianola keys.
In lounge-room mirror
little kneeling sisters
over their butterfly book.
From the mirror
starlight returns
beginning its journey again.
In the mirror
behind a fly speck
Saturn and its rings.
Goldfish
slippery kissing
at the mirrored sides.
In the mirror
the chandelier lighting
its own small room.
In the wardrobe mirror
discovering
her hangers are empty.
Small clear lake
below the mirror
flint-stone tools from the past.
In the mirror
the tot counting stars
with her baby lisp.
In the mirror
the orange tree swinging
its solitary fruit.
Rear-view mirror
a drink can bouncing
from an interstate car.
Cheap motel
the call girl avoids
seeing the mirror.
Mirrors
on the morning dew
the peach tree it fell from.
In the mirror
after the long drive home
tucking the toddlers in.
On the mirror
a fly crawls over
the fruit bowl's apple.
In the mirror
lace curtains strumming
the guitar on the bed.
Public library
everything in the mirror
but the smells of the books.
Dentist's mirror
the cavity
of so much pain.
Lake mirror
how the stallion guards
the mare's drinking.
Bedroom mirror
the keys in a suitcase
she has never opened.
In the mirrors
the fruit shop owner
turning the bruises away.
In the mirror
crossing our old house
to the verandah where I slept.
In the mirror
the shower screen opened
by my honey-moon wife.
In the mirror
deflating on the floor
a child's birthday balloons.
Pink bedroom
her thirteenth birthday
begins in the mirror.
In the mirror
the self-drawing slips
from Laurel's hand.
In the mirror
how soft the square of moon
over the sleeping tot.
In the mirror
more seeds from the cage
near the free-bird's song.
Mirrored
pirouettes of the old dancer
past the theatre windows.
Garden path
ants black with acid
up the school boy's stick.
In the mirror
the time in the hour-glass
before it was turned.
Bedroom mirror
the fan's rattle
re-winding the heat.
In the mirror
the crescent moon raising
its scoop from the sea.
In the mirror
the mantelpiece Buddha
lit by the moon.
In the mirror
white rose above the thorn
with a spot of blood.
Mistletoe
the hallway mirror
holding their kiss.
Winds rattle
Orion wandering
about our bedroom mirror.
In the mirror
the grandfather clock
turning its hands back.
In the mirror
the chatter of wag-tails
after rain on the lawn.
In the dresser mirror
my wedding ring passed over
by moonlight.
In the mirror
the light globe leaving
its heat outside.
After his wake
father's face
in my shaving mirror.
Lake mirror
a sprinkle of down
from migrating geese.
Lime-stone caves
dripping into mirrors
without light.
Reading late ...
across the mirror
sudden headlights.
Lake mirror
slowly decomposing
autumn leaves.
Cave drips
spreading ripples
empty of light.
Shattered mirror
a perfumed letter caught
fluttering out.
Mirrored
with moonlight
Venus in the lake.
Lake mirror
a frog leaps into
the face of the moon
Re: Basho'
Home visit
looking for that country
mirrored in my mind.
Father's old razor ...
the cut's bright blood
in my bathroom mirror.
Pond mirror
the eels beneath,
the dark below.
Window mirror
grape vine squeezing
the gold of dawn out.
Friday seance
our blanket covering
the mirror's crack.
Singing rock star ...
her too as she mimes
into the mirror.
Laurel in the mirror
the many combs through
her rain soaked hair.
Loop-tailed kitten
composes it a friend
prancing in the mirror.
On the mirror
how the blow fly buzzes
the cat's yawn.
Brushing
her REM sleep
the sea-breeze curtain.
Southern Cross
on the mirrored side
of the lake.
One finished,
shoe-shine man in his mirror
polishing the other.
In the mirror
a light globe swinging
with the cat's green eyes.
In the mirror
the room filled now
where Laurel dressed.
In the mirror
a lightning clap
nearly fills the kitten.
Bedroom mirror
without them knowing
a sliver of the moon.
Holiday resort
sunburns in the mirror
sending Laurel home.
In the mirror
Laurel moving across
the bed behind her.
Grand staircase
a waltz in the mirror
from the ballroom below.
In the mirror
her un-ravelled hem
others saw all day.
Pond mirror
a frog with the measure
of an incoming fly.
Window mirror
on the spring roses
their pregnant buds.
Lounge room
in the mirror
our crowded Sunday ironing.
In the mirror
the sculptor's nude
studies his sketch pad.
Cafe' mirror
the blonde sipping quietly
under her red sun hat.
Her bedroom mirror
every doll out of their box
being chastised.
Bathroom mirror
his apology's rose
on the toothpaste shelf.
Rear-view mirror
her rushed lipstick
at the traffic lights.
In the mirror
the peep of the tots
from our bedroom door.
Mirrors
returning to rock pools
the full moon tide.
Window mirror
sunflowers pollinating
into the wind.
In the mirror
mother surrounded
by my guest room.
In the dam's mirror
migrating geese cry out
where the houses were.
In her kitchen mirror
the unfolding shapes
of his crumpled letter.
Card night
a newcomer in the mirror
reading all our plays.
In the mirror
the blue of her baby's eyes
suckled at the breast.
In the mirror
a sprinkle of strangers
around Father's wake.
Home alone
mirrors in the mirrors mirror
his mother's shattered mirror.
In the mirror
your hair nuzzled
by the moon and I.
A window breaks- -
down in the lounge-room mirror
curtains flutter.
In the mirror
I feel the weight
of the grandchild's smile.
No one watching...
the mirror bring moonlight
to the child's sleep.
Lime summer dress
Laurel twirls herself
in the long mirror.
Lake mirrors
the red Pines
of a sunset.
Braiding blonde tresses
Laurel steps from
her cheval mirror.
Antiques shop
only the blemish thrives
behind mirrors.
In the mirror
the red bruise
in her rushed zipper.
Bathroom mirror
Laurel and her fog
the same scent.
Laurel leaves the room
a single rose stem
against the mirror.
Sleeping tot
her dreams at play
in the mirror.
Rocking chair
in - - out of the mirror
grandmother's crochet.
No sun today ...
yet in the mirror
the thaw drips, drips,
Bedroom mirror
night cream jars
bright in autumn sun.
In the mirror
the moon on my face--
solitary characters.
Then, come afternoon
mirrors on the dam
sprinkled with geese.
Cold bedroom
in the mirror
old Labrador in our doona.
Lake mirror
a cloud crawls over
the sand below.
Mirrored
spring rain almost dried
between sliding doors.
Lake mirror
a pelican crosses
the path to the sun.
Mirrored lake
the moon softly bathing
down to my waist.
Rear-view mirror
re-joining the stars
the last small town.
A mirrored sea
the moon moving
beyond its tides.
Mirrored lake
silent salmon sip
the floating moon.
Bedroom mirror
our dust too
glitters in the sun.
In the mirror
the hedge our gardener
shapes like a wall.
Lightning
a crack across
the lake's mirror.
Attic dust
the cracked mirror
the cracked mirror's broken toys.
Lake picnic
no one seeing
the canoe drift away.
Bedroom mirror
from a bad dream
the opening door.
Derelict house
cracks of dawn
in the blemished mirror.
Under the green table lamp
my Friday nights'
games of patience.
In the mirror
the silence of snow
on our neighbour's car.
Birthday dress
in the mirror
she spins herself between us.
The bare bones of trees
the mirrored lake
thick with leaves.
Cracked mirror
each half of the room
becomes the other.
A second earthquake ...
the mirror crisscrossed
from crack to crack.
A noise downstairs...
it stirs from my torch
in the mirror.
Shattering
mirrors of the lake
the marbled hail.
Dawn lifts
enough light to mirror
racing canoes.
no where but my shaving mirror Laurel’s shower mist
in the window mirror she passes to work… her bump rounder
sunset lake in the mirrored canoe me… becalmed
in face cream the hardening lines on my mirror
Broken mirror the boy’s horror in his shattered face.
Rear-view mirror headlights... the sensing it before the crash.
Birthday dress in the mirror she spins herself between us.
Under the green table lamp my Friday nights’ games of patience.
Attic dust the cracked mirror the cracked mirror’s broken toys.
Lightning a crack across the lake’s mirror.
Bedroom mirror the fan’s rattle re-winding the heat.
Rocking chair in - - out of the mirror grandmother’s crochet.
Garden path ants black with acid up the school boy’s stick.
In the mirror more seeds from the cage near the free-bird’s song.
In the mirror the self-drawing slips from Laurel’s hand.
In the mirror deflating on the floor a child’s birthday balloons.
Lake mirror how the stallion guards the mare’s drinking.
Dentist’s mirror the cavity of so much pain.
On the mirror a fly crawls over the fruit bowl’s apple.
In the mirror licking at her sleep the Labrador’s tongue.
In the garage mirror a closer lean on father repairing her doll-pram’s wheel.
Braiding blonde tresses Laurel steps from her cheval mirror.
No one watching... the mirror bring moonlight to the child’s sleep.
In the mirror I feel the weight of the grandchild’s smile.
Home alone mirrors in the mirrors mirror his mother’s shattered mirror.
In the mirror a sprinkle of strangers around Father’s wake.
In the mirror the blue of her baby’s eyes suckled at the breast.
In the dam’s mirror migrating geese cry out where the houses were.
Mirrored returning to rock pools the full moon tide.
Bathroom mirror his apology’s rose on the toothpaste shelf.
Her bedroom mirror every doll out of their box being chastised.
Cafe’ mirror the blonde sipping quietly under her red sun hat.
In the mirror the sculptor’s nude studies his sketch pad.
In the mirror a light globe swinging with the cat’s green eyes.
Mantelpiece how his youth fits father’s photos.
On the mirror how the blow fly buzzes the cat’s yawn.
Singing rock star ... her too as she mimes into the mirror.
Friday seance our blanket covering the mirror’s crack.
Father’s old razor ... the cut’s bright blood in my bathroom mirror.
Lake mirror
a frog leaps into
the face of the moon
Re: Basho'
hghghghghgh
hghghghghgh
hghghghghgh
high moon
such sweetness behind
these blackberry thorns
In the garage mirror
a closer lean on father
repairing her doll-pram's wheel.
In the mirror
a sliver of moon
rides the curtain breeze.
Lake mirror
the cries of belonging
from the migrant geese.
in the window mirror
she passes to work--
her bump rounder
Rear-view mirror
headlights...
the sense of it before the crash.
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