Technically these are, for the most part, Senryū not Haiku. The difference (in a nutshell) being that Haiku tend to deal with seasonal scenes from nature with

Technically these are, for the most part, Senryū not Haiku. The difference (in a nutshell) being that Haiku tend to deal with seasonal scenes from nature with a "cutting" word that provokes discord (the syllable thing really isn't that important), while Senryū depict "human foibles". Seen in that light makes these excerpts somewhat more profound. Arguing about this is somewhat akin to debating about "Hackers" vs "Crackers" in contemporary usage... See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senry%C5%AB http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senry%C5%AB