Full moon rising bright
Crimson sun retires westward
The year’s longest day
* * *
Hum of busy combs
Like caramelized sunlight
Dripping liquid gold
* * *
Sparklers and fireflies
Smoking backyard barbecue
Ants march home en masse
* * *
Turquoise sky, black strokes
Gnat-hunting swallows swooping
Bird calligraphy
* * *
Dew on the climbers
Scrambling up the rose trellis
A drop on each thorn
* * *
Foghorns . . . buoys clang
Ghostly fog muffles sea sounds
August on the pier
Poet’s note: Haiku poems are a major form of Japanese verse written in 17 syllables—divided into three lines of five, seven, and five syllables—employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons, often on the subject of nature or one of the seasons. The poems are fleeting impressions that illuminate the poet’s awareness. The poems are not related to each other, except by being about summer. Each haiku is independent of the others.