The other day, early in the evening, I wrote:

I wrote this a few nights ago. I tooted it on Mastodon and threaded it on Leo Threads, then I had a beer, watched the Angel's highlights to see how Ohtani did, then went to bed. It was only 9pm, but I was really tired. Usually I only get around 6 hour a night, so I suppose it was just catching up with me. I usually try to write a haiku every night. Usually these stay on my notecards and are filed away in one of my many notecard boxes, but sometimes if something I wrote tickles me or I want to share it, I'll usually do so on Mastodon and/or Threads. So be sure to look in one of those two places if you are curious. (Mastodon Link)

This may be more of a senryū than a haiku proper, but then again, senryū usually have some kind of self-deprecating twist highlighting human folly. So either one, I suppose. That is a line that has been blurred by free verse haiku poets like Santōka and Hōsai anyway, so it doesn't really matter. I just mention it because I see the word "senryū" being throwing around a lot on Hive.

Speaking of Santōka, I can't recall any where he talks about being tired. He complained of tiredness in his diary often enough, but I can't recall any making their way into his haiku. One memorable one involving sleep, though, is this one:

酔うてこほろぎと寝てゐたよ
yōte kōrogi to nete ita yo

so drunk
found myself sleeping
with the crickets
—Santōka

Ok, well his tiredness was aided and/or caused by alcohol, but I kind of felt like that, so tired that I might pass out in some field somewhere with the crickets.

I had a student who worked a lot of overtime once. Well, overtime in Japan is more the norm than the exception, but this guy did the extreme and worked 16-18 hour everyday for weeks at a time. He would tell me how he would come home, pass out on the floor before even having a chance to take a bath, then wake up and repeat. Hell of a life.

While I wasn't quite that bad off, I was tired.

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.