haiku retrospective xxxv

I'm noticing a shift in the latest haiku. I think that this is around the point when I started getting interested in serious haiku.

These old pre-haiku haiku have a certain fluidity at their best, a relaxed gathered-round-the-fire rhythmic storytelling that occasionally makes me think, “Okay, they're not really haiku, but there is a form there, and it has a certain grace.”

clouds curdle the sky.
icy shards of sun splinter,
spilling their cold light.

junction park tai chi,
mittened fingers trace the form,
misty breath hangs white.

trees huddle for warmth.
arthritic river complains,
winter's still closes.

16 November 1998