curve of the bay
her hand in his
back pocket

Andre Surridge

This haiku is a lovely sexy haiku that sings of summer love in New Zealand. Line 1 ‘curve of the bay’ sets the scene. There is something luscious about a curve of any description. This curving bay might be quite small, a comparatively intimate setting. In Line 2, a pivot line, we meet the lovers, girlfriend and boyfriend, husband and wife, it doesn’t matter. Their intimacy is communicated in those four words, ‘her hand in his’ which put the lovers walking alongside each other, side by side. That lovely repetitive ‘h’ sound at the beginning of each word breathes feeling and indeed movement into this intimacy between them. Finally, line 3 ‘back pocket’, ‘her hand in his back pocket’. This line tells us that their immediate landscape against the backdrop of the bay is the feel of each other, flesh on flesh. It is a line that fans the flames of passion between the two lovers. Put simply, a pocket might suggest possession or belonging between two lovers.

The syllable count is tidy and compact as the visual it presents.

Haiku first published: One Hundred Petals: a Collection of Modern English Haiku and Senryu by Andre Surridge (2019)

Selection and commentary by Anne L. Curran, New Zealand