Matsuo Basho was, as you say in your intro to this fine post, "a master of brief, startlingly clear and concise haiku." And there is, in my opinion, no better example of how to achieve this than in these three sublime lines in which a single leaf, clinging still to the life force of a tree, is such a potent symbol of loneliness and isolation.
Come, investigate loneliness:
a solitary leaf
clings to the Kiri tree
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Matsuo Basho was, as you say in your intro to this fine post, "a master of brief, startlingly clear and concise haiku." And there is, in my opinion, no better example of how to achieve this than in these three sublime lines in which a single leaf, clinging still to the life force of a tree, is such a potent symbol of loneliness and isolation.
Come, investigate loneliness:
a solitary leaf
clings to the Kiri tree
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
That's one of my favorite Basho poems and Basho is one of my favorite poets.
One of mine also. He truly has the gift.