heavy snow --

each branch with

its burden

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Rita Odeh (1960- ). From "Modern Haiku" 47:2 (Summer 2016), 14th Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Awards.

This is a classic example of messaging behind the words. The concrete image is of piles of snow that sit not just on the ground but on each and every branch. There is not one branch that doesn't have a load of snow weighing it down. It is as if the poet is calling out to us to remind us that we are not the only ones to be feeling burdened by things we have to do or people we need to take care of. Small branches may only have small burdens but those burdens are just as heavy to them as your greater burden may be to you.

Selected and commented on by Dhugal J. Lindsay

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Pique your poetic interest with more Haiku in English here.