POEM: Clearer in Haiku

I once knew someone who,

when asked for better clarity

on some instructions they had given,

which hadn’t been understood,

chose to respond in the form of a poem.

The poem didn’t work.

It was not best suited for clarity.

The person who received it missed the memorial service in the end.

They couldn’t find the venue,

despite the perfect rhymes.

I sometimes wonder if that is the problem with social media?

That we are using it,

too often,

to attempt to have conversations,

in a format which makes such conversations

impossible to have?

A medium unfit for purpose?

Like a heckler at a comedy club,

Trying to share the meaning of life,

To ears disinterested and eyes focused on someone else’s spotlight.

Right sentiment, wrong stage.

Somebody show them the door.

Comedy’s all about the timing

And this ain’t the time.

Or the place.

This is not a conversation,

This is self-harm as team sport.

Not every chrysalis leads to transformation.

(Although we can waste a lot of time

waiting for change in the dark)

A void that yells back remains,

nevertheless,

a void.

When I asked my poet friend why he’d opted for his strategy,

even though it demonstrably failed,

he told me he just liked writing poems.

When I said I didn’t understand

He said it might be clearer in haiku.