A Windy Day

Clothes tumbling dry,
A fresh wind blowing
On the window panes


In the strong wind
The hibiscus bends;
Its flowers touch the ground


(I apologize to all the Rhyme Nazis out there in Haikuland for that last one. I bought a copy of Oku No Hosomichi not too long ago which was translated by a British lady; I forget her name, but she has a really simple, elegant, and somewhat old-fashioned style of translating the verses and often uses rhymes. It's true that rhymes can be distracting at times, but all the same there is a clarity and--almost--a contriteness in that translation which bear witness to the fact that a rhyme in a haiku, when used somewhat responsibly, doesn't necessarily lead to disaster.)