For Bashō and Issa (Understory, 2018)

Authors: Rob Jackson

For Bashō and Issa

Why did they give their

lives to haiku, coloring

within the same lines

of a poem's form,

never breaking free to dance

with the maple seeds

spinning through the air

or ride the winds like snowflakes?

Were cherry blossoms

the reason? Did they

watch petals tear like wet skin

and wonder, each spring,

how can I save them,

never melting in sunlight,

never touching the ground?