12 thoughts on “”

  1. Excellent haiku capturing life:

    job centre —
    touched by the misery
    of my case worker

    —Graeme Sutherland

    I hope to see even more of your work on tinywords.

    warmest regards,
    Alan

  2. Congratulations Graeme on being published on Tinywords, and for sharing this excellent haiku!

    I really like how you have challenged the traditions while retaining the traditional format, and in so doing, invite the reader to reflect at a deeper level.

    For instance, there is no traditional season phrase, but this reflection led me to consider the reality for many people of being "seasonal workers", and needing the assistance of a job centre. This thought then was amplified with the second line, and the misery of the case worker to set me thinking about the Biblical poem from Ecclesiastes (popularized in the song "Turn Turn Turn" by Pete Seeger: " To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven: a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance"

    Instead of being the miserable one, it is the poet whose season is not to cry, but to comfort. He is the one who enriches, and has found the most necessary work in helping another human !

    This is a profoundly rich and humanist haiku! Thanks again for sharing it Graeme.

    Strider

  3. I was also touched by this haiku. You have shown empathy to be stronger than this traditional power structure. The unemployment system is perhaps a topic that could inspire more writing – the economy, like the seasons, effects us all in ways that we often know little of. I am sure enough poets have been there…

  4. I was also touched by this haiku. You have shown empathy to be stronger than this traditional power structure. The unemployment system is perhaps a topic that could inspire more writing – the economy, like the seasons, effects us all in ways that we often know little of. I am sure enough poets have been there…

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