Japanese Friends We Will Meet

A haiku for you

My Japanese friend

Where do I begin?

Great Cherry Blossoms

That fill Washington’s Sky Line

Are a precious gift

Childhood Atari

Awesome table tennis for all

We grew up with you

Anime we watch

Megacon fills us with joy

Our Japanese friends

And Sushi we love

Filling us to our own delight

Bellies like Buddha

The Samurai sword

Greatest Warriors we love

Japanese friend.

Japan our dear friends

You live in our hearts each day

We will meet very soon.

As I continue in this poetry contest I am trying to work from what I am familiar with and I am familiar with writing Haiku's. Actually I taught writing Haiku's when I was a middle school teacher. I am studying other forms of poetry but I have left my comfort zone. But let me share what little I do know about Haiku poetry.

It is Japanese poetry which consists of five syllables in the first line and the second line consists of seven syllables and the third line consists of seven syllables. The entire stanza is 17 syllables.

I added more stanzas then are typical in a Haiku but given Haiku's are Japanese poetry specifically designed for the English language flexibility is implied.

The say greatness is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration. I don’t know if that is true but I do know I work very hard at everything I do and I throw my entire heart into it. My Father conducted trade with Japan when I was a child. So I was exposed to the Japanese language and culture at quite a young age. We got a television that changed channels based on heat sensors in the 1970(s). You didn’t have to touch the buttons but just wave your finger in front of the channel you wanted. We also had an Atari. Most of the other children didn’t understand us but we embraced the Japanese culture and loved it as children. We even learned a lot of the language. For many years when no one knew Japan we knew Japan. And so with the embrace of the Japanese culture and language so to did we embrace the literature.

And so each day as I wonder through this life I carry Japan with me. Japan is in everything I do and I would love to visit the country. It is on my list of places I would love for my son to see.

I try to share all know about Japan with my son. And perhaps we will never be able to see the beautiful shores of Japan but we see so much of Japanese culture in infused within the American culture to the point they are indistinguishable. And every time I see a Cherry Blossom I think of Japan. Perhaps we will be able to see a Cherry Blossom tree in Japan.