#NaHaiWriMo 2026 - the first batch

Here are the first seven days of poems for this National Haiku Writing Month.

Thoughts? Comments? Should I post them daily instead of a weekly summary?

Let me know!

 
#NaHaiWriMo - Boom
 
And just like that
Everything changed
And then didn’t
 
*
 
You reached across me
Grabbed a handful of grapes
Ate them one by one
 
 

#NaHaiWriMo - Toast

 

All the blessings

Upon blessing upon blessing

Quickly forgotten

 

*

 

And just like that

It was over without warning

Only your absence

 
 
#NaHaiWriMo - Ballet
 
Leaning into the air
Her path predetermined
Each step a knife
 
*
 
You told me clearly
I’m just here to hold you
You turn and return
 
*
 
It’s exhausting
All those costume changes
Everything unseen
 
 

#NaHaiWriMo - Broccoli

 

The texture of desire

How it is offered matters

It fills the mouth

 
 
#NaHaiWriMo - Star
 
You mistake sharpness
We see things differently
You mistake brightness
 
*
 
We turn our heads
Watching the heavens for signs
We just keep moving
 
 

#NaHaiWriMo - Jellyfish

 

Every embrace

Invites me through the veil

Pierces the flesh

 

*

 

The waves keep coming

You dance in the currents

Carried into the deep

 
 
#NaHaiWriMo - Rain
 
It rained in sheets
It rained until the basement flooded
It was everywhere
 
*
It rained all day 
Our room silent as you slept
It rained all night

#NaHaiWriMo 2026

February is National Haiku Writing Month, during which participants attempt to write at least one haiku every day (February being the shortest month).

As in previous years, I may or may not try the occasional "traditional" haiku, and hope you will allow me a little leeway to try some micropoems and to ignore the supposed 5-7-5 rule/ format.

There are many other intriguing waka forms that incorporate haikuic structures: katauta (5-7-7), sedoka (5-7-7-5-7-7), tanka (5-7-5-7-7), bussokusekika (5-7-5-7-7-7), choka (5-7-5-7-5-7-5-7-7), and haibun (a prose/poem with a haiku ending) -- and I may  try some of thos ethis year.

Perhaps some of you would be willing to join me for a renga (a collaborative haiku sequence with alternating stanzas of 5-7-7 and 7-7)?

Once again, I'll be using the februllage prompts as a starting point.

Feel free to join me, or at least follow along!