My Haikus

“O, What Is Man?”

Bright fire at sunrise

Glowing incessantly then
Dying ember now

We are like a fire starting from nothingness. Just like the sunrise we
battle our way through the night, through the dawn, through the early
morning dark clouds. Then we start to glow as a fire does, as the sun does
at sunrise. We are like the fire and the sunrise the moment we were born. In
the rush of burning, as with fire, and in the sun’s incessant routine of
warming the earth, we go day by day through the rush of life’s activities.
Then at the close of day when all is done, when the fever of life is over, the
hush of life ensues. We who once were the glow, the warmth, the light now
come to the inevitable reality—just like the wood burning at the height of
day, we become the embers slowly dying by the close of day.

“A Bean, a Dream”

Earth covering now

Persistent bean sprouting then
The sky, your limit

The quest for success can be likened to a seed. The moist dark earth
typifies the obstacles and the formidable challenges that cover our way up.
With them blanketing us, we tend to lose sight of our aspirations; and, in the
end, we may just simply give up and die—just like the fate of other seeds.
But persistence has its own rewards. The never-giving-up spirit will rise
above all obstacles just like the persistent bean sprouting, going beyond the
clutches of mud and earth. Then once you’re out there, the sky is your limit.
 “Our Essence”
Bird, flight; horse, gallop
Love, belief, charity, hope
Man: hands, heart, free will

“All creatures great and small . . . the Lord God made them all.” This is
a familiar line from the prayer book of the Church of England. It even has
been given a tune and made a hymn entitled “All Creatures Great and
Small.” The line says it all. We who are created by God have inherited his
perfect essence. We are his reflection, a reflection of his goodness.

He made the beautiful birds, and he gave them their special essence—
flight. He gave the horse its greatest asset—unequalled gallop. And yet God
said to man, “You are worth more than the sparrows!” Just like the animals,
man is endowed with physical gifts. Yet God has given man more than he
may deserve. He made man capable of love, belief, kindness, hope. He gave
man hands, a heart . . . and free will, which is a humbling act for a creator—
giving his creature the faculty to decide whether to love him or not.
Therefore, each of us is that special. We are of the same essence, and we
deserve to be loved just as we ought to give love.

(I assume ownership of this original work—Elmer J. Mangubat.)