Haiku of Issa

Haiku is one of the quintessentially Japanese cultural artifacts that has universal appeal. Its compactness and simplicity of rules are reminiscent of Sumo for me, where tremendous energy is expended in a 4 1/2 meter circle using a limited set of throws.

A good introduction to Haiku is Essential Haiku by Robert Haas, a Poet Laureate of America. Selections from the big three of Basho, Buson and Issa are included along with detailed annotation by the author.

I like the poetry of Issa for his humanity and humor observing nature, people and insects - especially insects whom he seem to have had a special fondness for.

Don't worry Spider,
I keep house
casually.

All the time I pray to Buddha,
I keep on
killing mosquitoes.

Goes out,
comes back -
the loves of a cat.

Seen
through a telescope,
ten cents worth of fog.

Children imitating cormorants,
are even more wonderful
than cormorants.

The best place on the web I've found for reading Issa's haiku is this professor's site, which has a searchable database with commentary and the original Japanese.