Haiku is a short poem style, often just 2 or 3 lines. It helps to convey the experience of the poet of the vivid moment. The audience didn't experience what the poet did but they use their memories to fill in the blanks.

I'm sure some of you have favourites are even made some up yourselves. I didn't find another thread on this subject so I made my own. Paste your favourites.

I like these in particular:

"Dry creek
glimpsed
by lightning”
― Kobayashi Issa

In field nor mountain, nothing stirs
On this snowy morning.
— Chiyo-Ni

Autumn darkness
                descends
on this road I travel
                       alone
—Matsuo Basho


A single chestnut leaf glides
on brilliant water
― Ryuin

The moon
hovering above the snow-capped mountains
rained down hailstones
― Sekitei Hara

Alright, my bad dharma poetry:

"Sun rises, night falls,
Together, a blazing darkness
that knows no enemies"

Does it have to be Zen haiku? Or does the term Zen only refer to the immediacy of the impression.

I've been an afficionado of this style of poetry since the early 1970s when I was first introduced to it. I liked it because it requires precision of the author to be brief and to the point in an intuitive way, and to make his point within the limitation of seventeen syllables, preferably 5-7-5, and to make every word choice count. Being an aspiring writer at the time, the form intrigued me. The reader has to be able to associate the meaning from the words and ideas presented. Sometimes it is only a mood or a flash event that is being displayed in the poem.

Daniel, not bad. I like it.

Here are a few I wrote in years past.

This first one is probably the first one I ever wrote:

Bending like bamboo
      in a summer hurricane —
           snapping up again!   — 1973

Dawn of the new day
cocoon becomes butterfly —
reborn in himself.    — 1973, Oct. or Nov.

In the following poem, note the implied meaning of the juxtaposition of the two words on either side of the em dashes.

Rain — essence of life,
falls to mingle with the dust,
rises again — pure    — 1976

Here are three I wrote influenced by the poetry of e.e. cummings, one of my favorite poets.

i speak me joyously
being only and one whole
belonging to all   — April 1978

Be aware of the double entendre of the word "morning" in order to perceive the full meaning of this next poem.

sometimes in morning
i awake so seeingly
myself's the enemy!   — April 1978

This one is not so much strict haiku, but I thought I'd throw it in because of its Zen-like "feel."

The grasping hand
that grasps at empty air
holding nothing,
holds everything    — 1976

Following are a few written in more recent years.

In midst of deepest silence
the wind blows
and shuts the door    — Mar. 1994

Out there on the grass —
in the middle of nowhere,
going everywhere   — Mar. 1994

Eating an apple
     and out of the center falls
         perfect little seeds   — Mar. 1997

Sunlight in an empty room
     washes off the walls and floor
         outlining my self    — July 1997 (To Edward Hopper, inspired by one of his paintings)

When I resumed a study of the Dhamma, this one came out.

the mind at rest
caught in a receptive nuance —
sky, bird; tree: sun!   — May 2000

Enjoy.

I didn't know you had a poet side Ian. Not bad.

No it doesn't have to be Zen. There's even some ancient Greek tombstones that are similar to Haiku.

Mariner, do not ask whose tomb this may be,
but go with good fortune: I wish you a kinder sea.
― Michael R. Burch, after Plato

Is the Edward Hopper one based on this?

There's a lot that people here don't know about me. Just, as I'm sure, there are things that people don't know about you and many others here.

There was another Hopper painting that I had in mind which doesn't have any human figures in it, just an empty room looking out a doorway that seems to fall off toward an ocean (if memory serves correctly, and I'm not sure it does). It is quite a famous painting. That's why the description in the poem "empty room" (i.e. no people). Although the one you picked is quite striking also. I like the way he uses light in his compositions. But, of course, that is what artistry in oils on canvas is all about, the use of light!

Mu

Probably this one:

No. That's a window, not a doorway. But not a bad guess. I like it.

Do people on this forum know how to read? (Sorry, I just had to zing you with that. You walked right into it.) 

Here's a link (I don't know how to load the image). It's called "Rooms by the Sea. Alias The Jumping Off Place." This seems to be only the first half of the image. The way I recall, there was more of a second room to the left; it seems that's been cut off or something. Or else I'm remembering it wrong. Or maybe it was another artist who painted what I recall. If I recall correctly, I saw the image on a CBS "Sunday Morning" show when they were featuring several painter's works.

http://www.edwardhopper.net/rooms-by-the-sea.jsp

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That's why I like Haiku and William Carlos Williams. That's all I can handle.