Haiku by Karla Linn Merrifield

This, an acoustical kiss,
played with twenty two strings–
complicated.

The sense of hearing is what fuels this haiku, and also a twist of phrase. I thought the “kiss” was the sound of a harp, but it turns out it is from an unusual guitar. The listener is filled by the music, the ear and its perceptions seem actually “kissed” by sound. My favorite park of the haiku is the last line. The sound is complicated–played on twenty two strings. But it also reminds me of how when people say “it’s complicated”–often about relationships–it means they don’t want to explain further. The complication remains private.
And yet shared in the poem.