I still have too long a life ahead
To get rid of these feelings, right?
I want to try doing over
The things I've left undone.
I thought I was running after
Something carried over from my dreams.
Yet I'm stumbling into people
On this narrow, winding road.
It's not like I want to go back
To the way things were back then.
I'm just searching for the sky
I've been losing.
Here's hoping you'll understand.
Stop making that sad face
As though you were a victim.
Sins don't end with tears
You have to carry the pain forever.
Who am I waiting for, in this maze of emotions
With no way out in sight?
I want to purge myself more simply
As if writing in a blank notebook.
What is it I want to escape from..
...Is it reality?
It makes me want to scream that we're alive
For things to come true.
Can you hear me?
I can't put up with playing it safe.
I've got nowhere to go home to.
I'm always grateful for kindness
That's why I want to grow stronger.
(I'm on my way)
I even welcome this pain
For the things I miss.

Below are eleven Buson haiku
beginning with the phrase
'The short night--'


The short night--
on the hairy caterpillar
beads of dew.

The short night--
patrolmen
washing in the river.

The short night--
bubbles of crab froth
among the river reeds.

The short night--
a broom thrown away
on the beach.

The short night--
the Oi River
has sunk two feet.

The short night--
on the outskirts of the village
a small shop opening.

The short night--
broken, in the shallows,
a crescent moon.

The short night--
the peony
has opened.

The short night--
waves beating in,
an abandoned fire.

The short night--
near the pillow
a screen turning silver.

The short night--
shallow footprints
on the beach at Yui.








User Submitted "The short night--" Haiku

Submit your own haiku beginning with the line
"The short night--"
and we'll post the best ones below!

Just dash off an e-mail to:

     theshortnight@plagiarist.com



The short night-
a watery moon
stands alone over the hill

     Maggie



The short night--
just as I'm falling asleep
my wife's waking up

     Larry Bole

The death of a man who died from outside.
The immenseness of feelings through the gender divide.
Never again will he play with silly string.
For now as a woman, she's free from this thing.
She breathes freedom, released by the sharpest of knives.
Cut caught her persona with ribbons and bows.
Delicate as a flower, as no other would know.
No other could know.
A life a gentlemen, now she's let go.
She had too.
The strongest soul I ever met.
For now,she is a woman.
Pure and by design.
Brave and strong.
Flamboyant as a comet,  aiming high for distant stars.
She's going to make it, of that I'm sure.
My post op transgender friend, who I do so adore.
The caterpillar did it, she's broken free at last.
Left the land of being male,
Abandoned in the darkest past.
(C) LIVVI
Love and best wishes sent truly from me.
For a beautiful smooth sweet soft recovery.
(C) LIVVI

DINNER, inspired by Yui.
It's time for dinner.
What shall we have?
Brothers and sisters, the fatted calf?
Served with lettuce and bread.
Tomatoes and fries.
Why are we eating the dead?
It may not be a fellow being persay.
Is a fellow creature nonetheless.
As an issue of conscience.
I find myself bitten hard.
Very hard.
Internal debate.
External deliberation.
I rarely eat meat myself.
Sorry to say, I love the smell.
Love the taste more.
Could never work in an abattoir.
My conscience would be ripped to shreds.
Poor creatures sadly rendered dead.
My heart it bleeds each time I think.
Killing to eat is barbaric.
This poem is written in the best possible taste.
Sadly, so is the meat.
(c)Livvi MMXV