Night

It's a night like none
Of the rest: too much too soon,
Too little too late.

The night overflows
Its peace, so I follow fear
Beyond my insight.

Be still and behold
The moments that I fear most
Pass by in disguise.


“Night” is an example of a triple haiku, a new, poetic form that I have used for several years. This form is derivative of the original haiku, which Japanese poets have employed for centuries. I believe I’m the only American poet now working with the triple haiku, but maybe not. American poets – initially, the Imagists, such as Ezra Pound, Amy Lowell, and John Gould Fletcher – began using a single haiku as a standalone poem in the early part of the 20th century. Toward the end of his life, Auden also wrote frequently in the haiku mode, but not as I have formulated it using three haiku in a poem with each haiku being the equivalent of a stanza, and each stanza being based on the normal haiku structure, having three lines with five syllables in the first and last lines and with seven syllables in the middle line.