the weight
of the stepladder–
red cherries
Comment: a haiku that plays on the ‘physicality’ of the juxtaposed elements, ie the heavy stepladder –with its vertical structure aiming at the highest branches of the tree– in the first ku and the red, roundish cherries in the second one. The dash (‘–’), which serves as the as a cutting mark (kireji 切れ字) at the end of line 2, graphically reproduces one of the rungs of that same ladder, signing the laborious beginning of a harvest that takes on broader and more human connotations. Also, note the sensory shift from touch (the ‘weight’ of the ladder) to sight (the color of the cherries).
