ginko
ballparking
a kigo
Written on January 13, 2025
Edited on February 25, 2026
Notes
The meta-reference and almost-overt humor likely makes this haiku senryū less palatable for many readers, but I like it as of now since there is some truth to it w.r.t coming up with kigo for haiku and sometimes being overwhelmed by the options or the lack of, and then writing a haiku without one while telling myself so and so subject/object in the haiku can loosely be interpreted as a seasonal word.
The first draft of this was:
a walk
in the garden
ballparking
a kigo
Not so sure if I prefer the newer version or the first version.
Term definitions:
“Ginko” (吟行; haiku walk) in Japanese refers to a meditative walk or poetic stroll, often undertaken by haiku poets to gather inspiration and connect with nature. The term is composed of 2 kanji characters: “吟” (gin), which means “to recite poetry,” and “行” (kō), which means “to walk” or “to go“. [ref]
“Kigo” (季語; ‘season word’) is a word or phrase associated with a particular season, used in traditional forms of Japanese poetry. [ref]
February 26, 2026
S.B.Wright picked this senryū from my BlueSky feed and wrote some interesting commentary on it, read it on his substack page these haiku…falling almond blossoms in a spring breeze.
Thank you, S.B. Wright, for the feature and commentary!
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