Image by Simon Steinberger from Pixabay
Rats find midday shade,
tired from the day's scavenged trade.
Industrious souls.
This Haiku tries to flip perceptions on their head, casting the Rat in a different light to how they are usually perceived. While it is true rats carry diseases, the industry of this creature can not be denied. I'm not trying to ennoble the rat in this Haiku, just reflecting on their existence without judgement. I find it interesting to watch animals in the urban environment, to see how they've adapted their nature to fit in with our synthetic 'built' world. Hopefully this Haiku expressed some of what makes the form great:
Mono no aware (物の哀れ), empathy with nature and human life; the "feeling of things", nostalgia, regret for the passing of time, understanding of the changeability and of the transience without suffering.
Karumi (軽み), beauty in simplicity; poetic beauty reflected in its simplicity, free from preconceptions and moral judgment.
Wabi (侘寂), the taste for frugal and natural things, rustic simplicity, freshness or silence; it can be applied to both natural and artificial objects, or even non-ostentatious elegance.
Reference fromMizu No Oto Haiku Competition
This is day fourteen of my month long challenge - from the 06th of August until the 06th of September - to post a daily Haiku on steem. Each week will have a different theme based on picture prompts from either Pixabay.com or Unsplash.com. This week's broad theme is man vs nature.
I have created a new tag #monthofhaiku. If anyone wants to replicate the challenge please feel free, I will check the tag occasionally and try to curate the better Haiku. However, this is not meant to be a challenge to the writers' community. I have an extremely busy month ahead, and I started this as a personal challenge so that I didn't drift away from posting on steem. Please, forgive me if I'm slow to respond to comments or am not around on discord, I have had to reassess my priorities over the last few weeks.
The picture used in this post is creative commons, linked below pic. If you have enjoyed this Haiku, please check out my homepage for similar content. Thank you.

