My Last Haiku

And Other Haiku Quintets

By: Dan Dana

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

This poetic trail of crumbs picks up where A Life Mostly Lived, my previous memoir in verse, left off in 2022. These new poems are similarly constructed, each one a set of five (yes, a quintet) of haiku. But this time the haiku quintets proceed from the present, 2025, and travel back through the intervening years.

Some poems are life-snippets describing actual events, often referring to contemporary newsworthy matters the reader may recall from the headlines. Others address ideas, emotions, and musings occurring solely within the confines of my skull. Collectively, they represent life as I’ve lived it up to May 2025.

Inspired by Hemingway’s iceberg theory, I aim for potent minimalism. The visible tip leaves the bulk of these poems unwritten, unspoken, untold, awaiting your discovery and completion by the image in your mind’s eye, the tug at your heart, the punch to your gut. As you read and reflect, their fuller meaning emerges Rorschach-like from your own personal underworld, beneath the surface of your mind, unnoticed until this moment.

Some haiku quintets are lighthearted, perhaps entertaining. Others invite deeper reflection about life and its meanings. In each, the choice is yours.