A series of micro-seasonal haiku, awakening to the ordinary
14th Sekki: Manageable Heat (Aug. 23-Sept. 7) – ‘Shosho’
cotton flowers bloom (Aug. 23-27)
heat recedes at last (Aug. 28-Sept. 1)
rice has ripened (Sept. 2-7)
Similar to the use of a ‘season word’ in haiku, each of the 72 micro-seasons (kō) provide a short phrase as a trellis around which to form a haiku. Above are the phrases for this particular micro-season and below are the inspired verses we have received.
Kō 40:
season’s fever breaks—
apple pie ingredients
on the shopping list
MADISON WILLIAMS
Charlottesville, VA
Kō 41:
clouds drifted into
a river of cotton flowers—
crossing your childhood
SHAOMEI YU
Los Angeles, CA
Kō 42:
floating blossoms—
a dragonfly
holds still
ELLIOTT DIAMOND
Philadelphia, PA
To submit haiku for our Kō series, visit our submissions page.
To read more about Kō, and to view the seasonal calendar, click here.
To explore a haiku workshop offered by Upaya Zen Center, click here.
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