“We have exhausted the available haiku about bird droppings”
May 2, 2022 11:00 AM   Subscribe

In an essay translated by Ikuho Amano and James Shea and published in Poetry Magazine, 19th c. (Meiji period) poet Masaoko Shiki ponders the ways in which the authors of haiku refer very directly to excrement: “Haiku on Shit”
posted by Going To Maine (16 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
Brown Speckled Haiku

My donation fell
And the doves picked at seeds, cooed
Then flew to the trees.
posted by Oyéah at 11:10 AM on May 2, 2022


On the Road

A sudden white swoosh
Knee jerk wipers on sans wash
Reality smeared
posted by njohnson23 at 11:49 AM on May 2, 2022 [6 favorites]


Winter by Chen Chen is the best poem I know about shit.
posted by Jeanne at 11:57 AM on May 2, 2022 [5 favorites]


Is this the opening salvo (so to speak) of Poop Month 2022?
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:00 PM on May 2, 2022 [2 favorites]


It can be if you want it to be! Make MetaFilter the place you imagine!
posted by hippybear at 12:32 PM on May 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


This Morning

Sleep is broken
Box cannot contain the smell
Nearby, cat is proud
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 1:02 PM on May 2, 2022 [7 favorites]


Bird cage needs cleaning
Bird knows this and has a plan
He shits through the bars
posted by Splunge at 1:29 PM on May 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


"Nothing should ever be done that should be done. It has to come out like a good hot beer shit. A good hot beer shit is glorious, man. You get up, turn around, look at it, you're proud. The fumes, the stink of the turds, you look at them, you say, 'God, I did it. I’m good.' Then you flush it away and there is a sense of sadness when just the water is there.

Its like writing a good poem, you just do it. You -- its a beer shit. There’s nothing to analyze, nothing to say it’s just done.

Got it?" - Charles Bukowski
posted by The Bellman at 1:42 PM on May 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


I don't have the original anywhere (could be long gone), but back in high school - late 1991 - our English teacher encouraged all of us to enter a haiku contest sponsored by a small arts council in the state as part of our unit on the format. My entry:

A bird flies above.
Nature calls. It spots a bald
head. Plop. Splat. Bullseye.

This is objectively terrible and obviously the product of a wiseass shithead kid who didn't care about the assignment... so naturally, I ended up taking 3rd prize and won $10. I still have the prize check.
posted by phong3d at 1:53 PM on May 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


MetaFilter is
All up in my shit about
Precision bird poo

Meanwhile, the finches
On the fencepost next to me
Are fucking again

The fencepost is white
With something I choose to call
Springtime is leaking
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:04 PM on May 2, 2022 [4 favorites]


Spring mist peacocks run
tranquil sawgrass wet feather
Center of the bowl.
posted by clavdivs at 4:24 PM on May 2, 2022


The smug little cat
That I saved from the shelter
Has shit in my shoes.

Mount Fuji rises.
I should not order tacos.
Oh, God. My nose burns!
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 4:39 PM on May 2, 2022 [2 favorites]


White cockatoos, perched in a clump,
Tend to defecate hard, with a thump.
So if your car's parked
It's now fully marked
By a flock of birds taking a dump
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 6:10 PM on May 2, 2022


Australia? Eh mate?
posted by Splunge at 9:00 AM on May 5, 2022


Love for my bird means
He sits on my shoulder and
Shits on my new shirt.
posted by Splunge at 9:18 AM on May 5, 2022 [2 favorites]


Excrement excites
Metafilter again - not
just February
posted by blue shadows at 12:05 AM on May 6, 2022 [1 favorite]


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