WiW Activities

I Wrote A Haiku in A Metaverse.  

By Janpha Thadphooton (February 2022)

The rain just eased off.

The sun was out and strong.

The sky appeared.

This haiku I wrote in the Metaverse.

Sitting with Basho by the lake.

The master turned to me and said: “What could be worse?

Not your poem, but this global ache.”

The lake shrank to half its size,

And as we sipped our tea I heard

In the distance, a dying bird

Pitifully sending out its cries.

“I must continue my journey”, he said.

“From here, Nara is yet a long distance”.

“Can I join you?” and he shook his head.

With his wooden stick, he needed no assistance.

“I am more fortunate than you,” he said,

“because unlike you, I’m already dead.

You’ll have to go on living with this curse

in a world where things will just get worse.”

“What about my haiku? Do you like it?”

The master smiled and offered this advice.

“It could be worse,” he said, “I must admit.

But your world will end in fire or ice.”

As he turned and faded into thin air,

I watched the leaves shrivelling from the trees,

Fearing the fate I’d have to share -

And wondered if I’d burn or freeze.



And this after thought..

This verse created in the cloud

Only existed as time allowed.

Yet, it can be everything -

Proving what empty air can bring.

February 2022

Special thanks to Professor Alan Maley for his editorial assistance with this manuscript.

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