A gorilla stares
into a handheld mirror.
Thoughtful - self-aware.
This Haiku addresses my personal view that animals are far more self-aware than humans prefer to think. Nothing allows for an easier path to cruelty than separating yourself from another creature, whether it be through classification or philosophical assumptions. Religion has a lot to answer for in this respect. In western society particularly we have such a separation between the creatures we eat and those that we keep as pets, that we live in this kind of stupid duality of thought where we see the emotions, and personality in our pets, but never get to see these things in other animals. Through this separation we insulate ourselves from the reality that this is a cruel, predatory universe and we're simply the most effective predator. I personally would prefer to live with my eyes wide open in this respect. Many animals show the obvious signs of self-awareness, and therefore should be treated as such. This was not a typical Haiku, but hopefully the poem 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 eight 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 
