happy Buddha haikus

I’ll call it a night by leaving you with a link to a very happy webpage– a whole bunch of HAIKUS ABOUT BUDDHA from Issa, the wittiest of Japanese poets.

Year after year
deigning to be born…
Buddha

on his finger
one penny…
Buddha’s birthday

rice cake with bean paste
for the crossroads Buddha…
spring breeze

Guaranteed to put you in a good mood for the rest of the day.

As for that second one about the penny, it amused me occasionally throughout the 1990’s. I taught it to my eldest nephew, who would actually balance a penny on his finger and say very seriously: “But it’s not my birthday.” My friend Irene (who is footnoted in Tool-Being for a different witticism) also got into the habit of following up short and rhythmic sentence fragments from me with the punchline: “Buddha’s birthday.” (Example: “Lovely stars this evening.” “Buddha’s birthday”; “Kansas City lights getting brighter.” “Buddha’s birthday.”)

Another good non-Buddha haiku from Issa:

Geese at my gate
cry all you like.
No rice!