悲しみは体の仕事星月夜 sadness is the body's work starry moonlit nights 蜻蛉飛ぶ蜻蛉の中が狭すぎて a dragonfly flies because its inside is too small ぶらんこの子が真夜中を待つてゐる a child on a swing is waiting for midnight 花の宴君の代はりに夜が来て cherry blossom viewing the night came instead of you
Most people write haiku in Japanese in one line. But a few people write them in two or more lines. For example, here is a haiku by Koji Ooka, an avant-garde haiku writer in the 60s. ともしびや おびが驚く おびのはば torch― a kimono belt surprises at its own width (translated by me) The division of the lines emphasizes the rhythm. It is also interesting that the unusual appearance of the haiku surprises us, just as the width of the kimono surprises the kimono!
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