My first accepted poem after a six year hiatus from writing. This poem is dedicated to Brendon Kent. R.I.P. mentor & friend. Special thanks Richard Gilbert & Clayton Beach for accepting & publishing it.
haika is a five line poem with embedded multiple readings. The earliest version of this style of poetry was created as part of a tankaku published in the Otata journal issue 46 2019. It can be read as a sequence, a two stand alone haiku, and as a tanka or not. The sequence are read in the line order of 123, 234, and 345. The two stand alone haiku are read as 123 and 345. Lastly the lines triangulates with the lines 1+5 which adds to the loop of the entire poem’s matrix. Much credit to Clayton beach who pointed out the reading in the lines 234 recently which finalized this form.
lying on grass
a turtle turns
into a lion
into its mouth
into nothing
The complete breakdown:
Line 123:
lying on grass
a turtle turns
into a lion
Line 234
a turtle turns
into a lion
into its mouth
Line 345:
into a lion
into its mouth
into nothing
Two stand alone haiku:
Line 123
lying on grass
a turtle turns
into a lion
Line 345
into a lion
into its mouth
into nothing
Line 1+5
lying on grass
into nothing
Publishing credit: Heliosparrow July 24 2026
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