Some of Wright's Haiku
I am nobody
A red sinking autumn sun
Took my name away
Make up your mind snail!
Your are half inside your house
And halfway out!
In the falling snow
A laughing boy holds out his palms
Until they are white
Keep straight down this block
Then turn right where you will find
A peach tree blooming
With a twitching nose
A dog reads a telegram
On a wet tree trunk
The spring lingers on
In the scent of a damp log
Rotting in the sun
Whose town did you leave
O wild and drowning spring rain
And where do you go?
The crow flew so fast
That he left his lonely caw
Behind in the fields
Just enough of rain
To bring the smell of silk
From the umbrellas
Coming from the woods
A bull has a sprig of lilac
Dangling from a horn
Why is the hail wo wild
Bouncing so frighteningly
Only to lie so still
A balmy spring wind
Reminding me of something
I cannot recall
The dog’s violent sneeze
Fails to rouse a single fly
On his mangy back
I would like a bell
Tolling this soft twilight
Over willow trees
The green cockleburs
Caught in the think wooly hair
Of the black boy’s head
Winter rain at night
Sweetening the taste of bread
And spicing the soup
An empty sickbed
An indented white pillow
In weak winter sun
For you, O gulls
I order slatey waters
And this leaden sky
An autumn sunset
A buzzard sails slowly past
Not flapping its wings
Merciful autumn
Tones down the shabby curtains
Of my rented room
From across the lake
Past the black winter trees
Faint sounds of a flute
Standing in the field
I hear the whispering of
Snowflake to snowflake
------------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S. There are two typos that I have retained from the original document. These haiku were reprinted from New Letters, December 1971.
A red sinking autumn sun
Took my name away
Make up your mind snail!
Your are half inside your house
And halfway out!
In the falling snow
A laughing boy holds out his palms
Until they are white
Keep straight down this block
Then turn right where you will find
A peach tree blooming
With a twitching nose
A dog reads a telegram
On a wet tree trunk
The spring lingers on
In the scent of a damp log
Rotting in the sun
Whose town did you leave
O wild and drowning spring rain
And where do you go?
The crow flew so fast
That he left his lonely caw
Behind in the fields
Just enough of rain
To bring the smell of silk
From the umbrellas
Coming from the woods
A bull has a sprig of lilac
Dangling from a horn
Why is the hail wo wild
Bouncing so frighteningly
Only to lie so still
A balmy spring wind
Reminding me of something
I cannot recall
The dog’s violent sneeze
Fails to rouse a single fly
On his mangy back
I would like a bell
Tolling this soft twilight
Over willow trees
The green cockleburs
Caught in the think wooly hair
Of the black boy’s head
Winter rain at night
Sweetening the taste of bread
And spicing the soup
An empty sickbed
An indented white pillow
In weak winter sun
For you, O gulls
I order slatey waters
And this leaden sky
An autumn sunset
A buzzard sails slowly past
Not flapping its wings
Merciful autumn
Tones down the shabby curtains
Of my rented room
From across the lake
Past the black winter trees
Faint sounds of a flute
Standing in the field
I hear the whispering of
Snowflake to snowflake
------------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S. There are two typos that I have retained from the original document. These haiku were reprinted from New Letters, December 1971.