Haiku is the word-picture art of the delicate. It is the mastery of capturing a momentary glimpse, emotion, or idea in seventeen chiming and harmonious syllables, encapsulating in imperfect words the changelessness of a solitary and perfect moment. Almost like mathematics anyone can begin composing haikus, but only either natural genius or dedication to the craft will result in brilliant and memorable masterpieces. Over the past week I have picked out just three haikus from the Words Smith Twitter feed which have in some way touched me as both brilliant and memorable. It isn’t the case that this selection is a competition; I would be the least well equipped to judge other people’s art. It is only what it is – three haikus that stood out to me. By all means feel free to give your own thoughts in the comments.

My first is from ‘Haiku Hare,’ and I hope you can see why this witty and splendidly accessible haiku stood out from the rest. With all the humdrum of standing at a bus stop the Haiku Hare lifts us up and whisks us off on a fantasy journey of Steampunk and wonder. Pure genius.


Then there is the ambition little bot of Aaron Marriner (@amarriner) ‘Jane Austen Haiku.’ It sits in the background of the Twitterverse, like most readers of Jane Austen do in the real world, and chirps moments of Jane Austen’s novels out into the ether. What is most surprising is that this bot has so few followers. People really don’t like bots, do they? Take my advice, go and have a look.


If you think tweeting Jane Austen in haiku sounds like a tall order, try the Bible! It looks as though ‘Haiku Bible’ is only just starting out… being, as it is, at the beginning (excuse the pun), but it isn’t a bot, which means that some poor sot has set themselves the task of translating to haiku every verse of the Bible. People!


Real artists are people who finish things. All I hope is that you have enjoyed this very small selection as much as I have, and do feel free to follow Words Smith (@AnSiorrachd) in the link below and see some of the great stuff that’s being picked up and retweeted through the day. Thanks to all the writers and artists everywhere who are contributing to making Twitter a more beautiful place.

Words Smith on Twitter

Ùr-Fhàsaidh
Jason Michael
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