Here’s a translation of a haiku by one of the great Japanese masters.
Just to say the word
home, that one word alone,
so pleasantly cool
A couple of months ago, Twist and I got to talking about housing and poetry. Twist thought we might someday ask Doomers for their contributions of housing and bubble haiku. Mr. Twist knows Japanese and even has some strong opinions about Robert Hass, an American haiku expert, so who knows, he might have one or two up his sleeve. Anyway, last Monday my poetry class [1] workshopped haiku. Twist had already shown me the gman029 comment that later formed the basis for her Tuesday post What’s Behind the Subprime Meltdown?, so I was startled when one of the haiku presented by Ken, a fellow student, seemed to concentrate gman029′s post and much else in just a few syllables. I got his permission to expose it here, and that’s why I’m posting on haiku and inviting contributions today.
As it happens, one of my submissions to the Monday class was about housing, although it pretty much failed as a haiku.[2] This is a good example of what not to do.
Old Hunter Street house –
prime address? Well, yes and no,
but easy to learn.John Wise McLeod
Here’s a better one. It comes from LINC, a California affordable housing group, and forms one of a half-dozen housing haiku (if you follow the link below you’ll find them and a form from which to submit your own to LINC).
Dark days ahead,
Great cities living and dead.
Jane Jacobs, adieu.
This one was posted by a commenter to Patrick.net almost a year ago. It’s a good example of bubblehead haiku.
Pop Pop Pop I hear
The prices are coming down
Houses are cheap soon
Finally, here’s Kenneth Varner’s haiku.
money looking tiger
grabbing everything in sight
only to be poor
OK Doomers, now it’s your turn.
________________________
Notes and References
[1]: English 3381, St Mary’s University, Halifax. instructor: Professor Brian Bartlett.
[2]: from Brian – It’s not supposed to need footnotes.
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John-
Here’s my offerings:
Maybe I’d better go back to my spreadsheets…
YOU BROUGHT THE RICHES
SO WHY AM I THE ONE LEFT
HOLDING THE BAG
Here is a more traditional one:
Rapid M3 growth
Leads to poor underwriting,
See the bubble pop.
Hope you like it!
Patrick.net and BigPicture have both had some excellent examples. Archived away someplace is also thehousingbubbleblog old site with hundreds more.
Parsimony’s Spring.
Profligate Summer presents
Fall into Winter.
Dedicated to my fellow citizens’ second year of negative savings and those useful fools who are sympathetic to the alleged “plight” of the “over-extended”. We are like Marie Antoinette saying “pardonnez-mei, monsieur. Jen Ne l’ai pas fait expres” for fear of offending the executioner. They are, after all, fat from eating borrowed cake!
Awesome haikus, all! Fun to read.
Lereah should have to report in haiku form, to put a limit his spin and lies.
OldMike, you even referenced the season(s), as I understand the Japanese try to do in their own haikus.
Gary Watts Told Us
Fifteen Percent’s in the Bag
Maybe Next Summer?
Prolifigates Reign
Credit Contraction Looms Near
Prudence Shall Prevail
My dear McMansion,
stated-income was our foe;
soon to be foreclosed.
Realtor said: Buy now
or be priced out forever!
And I believed him.
Nothing in the bank,
no equity in my home.
Something is not right.
John-
I think we should ask Oc-Ed to illustrate for us, and publish an anthology!
Guaranteed price gains
We flippers know that is fact
Can you spare a dime?
SPECULATORS SPIN
DERIVATIVE DOUBLE BINDS
OF RISK FREE ILLUSION