the moon is silent

lights up the night

A haiku aims at conveying an experience to the reader or audience. However, this experience is beyond adjectives and adverbs; it can only be experienced directly. The main thing the poet should offer is an observation, no explanation! (my translation of: ”show, do not tell”).

Of course, this requires a little more of the reader than we are used to. In the haiku above we must ask ourselves: Why does the poet choose to say that the moon is silent? No celestial body has a sound of its own, does it? And what’s so strange about it lighting up the night? And so you are invited to think further.