Colloquial in style, senryu are,
unlike haiku, concerned with topics
of a more mundane nature, satirizing
human emotions and failings.


in the beautiful woman
somewhere or other
his wife finds flaws

in the whole village
the husband alone
does not know of it

she may have only one eye
but it's a pretty one
says the go-between

the matchmaker
speaks the sober truth
only when drunk

when her daughter
tightens her belly-band
mother's tension slackens

if it's well styled
there are stories about her
the widow's hair

disturbed the cat
lifts its belly
on to its back

with his apology for wings
as best he can
the duck flies

judging from the pictures
Hell looks the more
interesting place

the picture that
the guide can't read
he doesn't show them that

the story teller
lets the villain escape
to tomorrow

the younger sister
first ferrets out
the groom's bad habits

a letter from a man
she doesn't much care for
showing it to mother

his own face
he shines daily
the mirror-polisher

her husband's
becoming a little too kind
weighs on her mind

no harsh words
she just paises a neighbor's
daughter-in-law

he asks the price
of things he doesn't want
till the rain stops

now that he has a child
he knows all the local dogs
by name

the pediatrician
first takes the pulse
of the stuffed tiger

while he blames
the firend of his son
he doesn't blame his son

I am told I look young
that is how I know
I am not young anymore

letting rip a fart
it doesn't make you laugh
when you live alone

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