Some edgier souls shy away from the old forms. Those are stale and boring. There is nothing left in the old genres that’s new. This complaint is perfectly understandable. Tastes and cultures change, shedding off old ways of doing things to make room for the new. And yet, there’s also a hasty assumption in the complaint that forms contain the messages, that they have a limited supply of meanings to dish out, and that using an old form might narrow the artist’s expressive horizons. Forms are vehicles, after all. It is through them that we might find the NEW, waiting for us startlingly decked out in the familiar.

Just look at haikus here on WordPress. I’m blown away with how many incredible haikus appear on my reader feed. Terse vehicles in ancient rigging, performing all sorts of new tricks. Somehow it seems that the compressive reading habits cultivated by the internet have helped to bring out the beauty of the haiku. I’m not completely shocked by this populist resurgence, having myself experienced a similar occurrence with respect to another tired out old form–the knock knock joke. Being badgered everyday by a loving nine year old for a new knock knock joke  on command was great writing practice. It taught me an important lesson. There’s still gold in them thar hills! And it led me to a silly hybrid: the knock knock haiku.

Knock knock. Who’s there? Luke

A. Mosh. Luke A. Mosh who? Look!

Yes! Look at my shoe.

Try it on a young crowd. Perform the punchline by pointing at your own shoe and you’ll see what I mean.

Anyways, I’ve decided to showcase ten of the haikus I’ve seen in the past week that have simply taken my breath away upon reading them. This is highly subjective, I know, so my point in offering these gems is simply to celebrate them and the illimitable haiku that transports their charms.

1. Stories of a Girl (haiku)

Once upon a time ~
There was a girl ~ Great stories ~
Begin with a Girl

Posted by solbluesol

2. Grasshoppers on the…

Grasshoppers on the hot sidewalk, watching me watch them, soon fly away.

Posted by Thomas Wigington

3. Mystery

bird, calls after dark
long, high repeated cries—end
higher, like questions

posted by Heart of Life Poetry

4. Imagination

I have imagination
I see big boats in the sky
But I’m afraid of death

By anthonydaygrandin

5. Haiku for Departure

To leave one you love
is much harder than dying
second time around

Posted by Carlos Chagall on Alphabetcity

6. Day seventy-two: in which my mistake was drinking a jug of wine

pictures on facebook
of me learning how to twerk
I’m too old to drink.

by aybeeachoo

7. Haiku Heights – Shepherd

first day of school –
teacher shepherds little ones
to the lunch room

Posted by Wabi Sabi on WabiSabi

8. #1285

summer locks its doors
still autumn claws at the cracks
bare branch fingernails

by Elyssa Tappero  on ONLY FRAGMENTS

9. 365 Days of Poetry: Day Two-Hundred and Forty-Six

like a blind man I.
turn away from the vultures and.
remember myself.

By June Faramore

10. It all counts

Haiku is seeing
the world in syllables and
knowing each one counts.

by mediamugshot on the 10 Minute Ramble