Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry comprised of three phrases.

Traditional haiku uses 17 syllables (5:7:5) but contemporary haiku in English often ignores this rule. A haiku is typically about nature, the earth and the natural world and are designed to be thought-provoking. These original haiku poems are by Anthony Rutledge and are mostly written in the contemporary free style format.

There are over 4,000 Haiku on this site in 15 different themes: Australian, Beach, Garden Sundial, In the Mirror,Kimono,Motherhood,Ships and Oceans,Spring,Windjammers and Miscellaneous.

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sepia photos
imagine me a young man
destroyed in his war.

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in a solitude
the corners of the room
from a round table.

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Freight train
giving its whistles
the loneliness of night.

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nursing home
our mother’s bruise
pink with rouge

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Guests gone
still above the pool
the dragonfly’s hum.

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a road rage
winds down the gutters
swirling the leaves

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In the nursing home
my mother’s face
as I remind her.

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the wolves come baying
in the deepening snows
they must feed their lives in

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Coal-mine town
hearts throbbing
between the siren wails.

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I know only
needing the bush fires
most Gum trees will blossom

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hibiscus scents
on a Sunday afternoon
the thin white clouds

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a road rage
the child from the back seat
calling out

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