The irony of senryu

Senryu, being of the same form as haiku, but about people and situations, has been a helpful vehicle for those items in the news--be it in the sports world, the political arena or in the realm of the personal--that catch my fancy. Below are a few.

World Peace, the athlete
beating up a fan he thought
threw a drink at him   
~~~(idea from Wally Hall, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, May 16, '12)


forced therapy
before she reads the paper
rankles the patient
~~~(personal conversation with B. F. about her mother, 5/16/12)

worst thing
to read in an obit:
"recently retired"
~~~(3/13/03)

moralizers
minding everyone's business
but their own
~~~(Bob Lancaster, Arkansas Times, 3/3/05)


after tornado
a piece of the obit page
fifty miles away
~~~(news article 3/31/98)


reading along
I come to a ladybug
is it reading, too?
~~~(while reading Gene Fowler's Skyline, 2/14/12)


I eye you
you eye him
none of us happy
~~~(picture: Putin's guards as he walks by: AP, 5/8/12)


Reminder: Nowadays neither haiku nor senryu must have 5-7-5 syllables unless a contest specifically calls for "traditional". 

JOIN MY CAMPAIGN: do away with contests that require traditional haiku.
poems c 2012 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press