Chili Bugs

There are days that I don't want to write anything, let alone haiku, which is blessedly short but not necessarily easy to pull off. There are days when everything goes wrong, when I'm editing a story for the umpteenth time, when I would rather not stub my fingers on a keyboard or risk paper cuts clearing a jammed printer.

Exaggeration? A bit. I don't stub my fingers or suffer many paper cuts. But maybe you have had days that screamed ouch at you, too.

Yesterday was one of those days for me, and this is the haiku that I wrote:

bugs in the cumin
tossing out spice in the snow
no chili tonight

This is not the sort of haiku to inspire romance or hope or sweet dreams. But it is real, and being real is one of the things that makes it haiku.

There is no room to describe the white larvae burrowed against the clear plastic side of the spice container. There is no extra-syllabic allowance for the tiny brown bodies of the adults, scuttling across the surface, then playing dead in not-behind-the-cupboard-door daylight.

You may have imagined these things. You may not have. But it is not up to haiku to spell them out.

Today I've written one that does not follow classic form, because it flows as one thought, one sentence:

can the ear of corn
left out for the squirrels
be called stolen?

Here I am questioning my interpretation of events. When I give something away, whether it is an ear of critter corn that I leave out on the deck for the squirrels, or pillows and candlesticks that I take to Goodwill, do I have the right to criticize what is done with my gift? Why is it so hard to relinquish control? Yes, the squirrels made off with the corn, instead of allowing me the pleasure of watching them eat, but a gift is a gift, isn't it?

Neither of these haiku is suitable for my Ameriku art, but they are my haiku, just the same. They come from personal experience. They are grounded in nature. And they are short. Painfully short.

My name is Rae Hallstrom, and Ameriku is my art and my business and my brand.

I hope you'll take a look (move cursor to title and click), and see if Ameriku art suits your decor, or gift giving needs. And feel free to leave a comment here, if you wish.

Ameriku Ltd produces nature-oriented art prints, posters, greeting cards and other items, based on my original haiku and photography.

Ameriku® is the registered trademark of Ameriku Ltd. When you see the Ameriku trademark, you can be sure the work meets my high standards of quality.

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