Visual haiku, also known as photo haiku or haiga, is a form of artistic expression that combines traditional haiku poetry with visual elements, typically incorporating a haiku poem alongside an accompanying image or artwork. The haiku, a form of Japanese poetry, consists of three lines with a specific syllable pattern (5-7-5) and often reflects nature, seasons, and emotions. In visual haiku, the combination of the haiku poem and the visual element enhances the overall expression and impact of the work. It creates a harmonious fusion of word and image, inviting the viewer to contemplate and experience a moment of beauty or insight.
Without patience
one cannot penetrate
into another’s world
Photo: ©28/12/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 560mm
ISO: 2500
1/500” f9
for fear of falling
they open their wings and fly
falling with control
Photo: ©27/01/2024-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 189.7mm
ISO: 400
1/2000” f5
The season of light
is closing its doors to the
season of darkness
Photo: ©01/11/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 153.3mm
ISO: 800
1/125” f8
The season of light
is closing its doors to the
season of darkness
Photo: ©01/11/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 153.3mm
ISO: 800
1/125” f8
Empty of purpose
Autumn’s fruit has been released
Finding a new home
Photo: ©01/11/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 80mm
ISO: 3200
1/160” f5
Unmoored and drifting
Somewhere in the turbid lake
Blown up on the shore
Photo: ©28/10/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 243.3mm
ISO: 125
1/8” f10
From somewhere beneath the darkness
A siren’s voice sings clear
The world around me changes
The darkness wants me near
Her voice is getting stronger
And harder to resist
Reality is getting harder
Acceptance is to insist
For a moment the calls grow softer
Holding on to what is me
A ray of hope is offered
Proffered only briefly
The darkness rises up to meet me
Or is it the other way around?
For this moment it’s time to flee
Giving in to the Siren’s sound
The impact happens abruptly
Spat apart, choreographed
All that once was me
Are the rings growing weaker fast
My energies been depleted
—Resistance is futile
—Assimilation completed
The journey was the trial
Forever lost into the echoes
The darkness, it has won
Just a part of the narrows
For now we are but one
Photo: ©17/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 80mm
ISO: 500
1/160” f8
Weathering the storm
One of many that have passed
Growing old with rust
Photo: ©20/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 33mm
ISO: 250
1/250” f2.2
Unattached and lost
For a few minutes unused
Waiting to be found
Photo: ©23/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 33mm
ISO: 125
1/320” f5.6
What’s holding me here?
The far side forbidden me
Held closed by tension
Photo: ©23/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-Pro3
Lens: 23mm
ISO: 1000
1/125” f10
Slipping through the fronds
nothing held but crisp, fall air
So the season starts
Photo: ©23/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-Pro3
Lens: 23mm
ISO: 160
1/250” f1.6
Strong cords and metal
Have the strength to withstand
Imagination
Photo: ©23/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-Pro3
Lens: 23mm
ISO: 640
1/500” f10
A web of red cords
Held together by metal
Playground adventures
Photo: ©23/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-Pro3
Lens: 23mm
ISO: 640
1/500” f10
the sky in the lake
appears past the broken wall
holding nothing back
Photo: ©23/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 33mm
ISO: 250
1/125” f4.5
The fall equinox
Rising due east setting due west
The sun journeys south
Photo: ©23/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 33mm
ISO: 800
1/125” f13
rain falls—I look out
the window as it blankets
the earth—I feel dry
—Now—
outside the rain falls
my skin feeling the cold rain
Yes, I am alive
Photo: ©17/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 80mm
ISO: 320
1/160” f8
Invasive species
Moving in because he can
Outcompeting us
Photo: ©17/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 80mm
ISO: 3200
1/200” f7.1
Now it sits empty
Once filled with love and jam
Closed moments too late
Photo: ©16/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 33mm
ISO: 400
1/150” f1.8
Stacked at the bottom
Made useless by climate change
Waiting for Winter
Photo: ©16/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 33mm
ISO: 400
1/150” f1.8
Stacked at the bottom
Made useless by climate change
Waiting for Winter
Photo: ©16/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 33mm
ISO: 400
1/150” f1.8
The garage is closed
With Its usefulness outlived
A way of life—gone
Photo: ©10/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-Pro3
Lens: 23mm
ISO: 160
1/52” f16
Left beside the path
The unused milling stone sits
An older world's guide
Photo: ©02/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Ha Ha Tonka, Missouri, United States
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T3
Lens: 80mm
ISO: 160
1/250” f2.8
Wings that turn have stopped
With the air still and heavy
Holding the sky in place
Photo: ©03/09/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 33mm
ISO: 160
1/50” f16
Molecules slowed down
Held in suspense by time
Winter is coming
This photo was inspired by a classmate from high school. She posted about a talented photographer in Kansas City, Missouri, Susan Pfannmuller. https://www.instagram.com/susanpfannmuller/
Ms Phannuuller has a series called Flowers from my Freezer. It is a beautiful abstract of beauty held captive.
Photo: ©29/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 80mm
ISO: 125
1/10” f18
Falling into you
Your embrace feeds my blood’s void
As my breath feeds yours
Photo: ©16JUL23 Phil Wahlbrink
Camdenton, United States
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 8mm
ISO: 250
1/2.1” f6.4
White plumes float in inky darkness
Pulling from the depths of hidden memories
Reflections from another realm
Photo: ©23/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 359.6mm
ISO: 3200
1/1000” f5.6
Warm winds bring the thought
Elsewhere is a better spot
The warm wind holds me
Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
Photo: ©19/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 400mm
ISO: 640
1/2000” f6.4
Not all trees grow straight
Sinuously seeking sun
Dancing to daylight
Photo: ©23/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 226.6mm
ISO: 125
1/60” f5.6
A meat-eating duck
Something I’ve never seen
eyes of a dinosaur
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
female
Photo: ©19/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 400mm
ISO: 800
1/1000” f7.1
You scream to the sky
Let the world know you exist
Autumn is coming
Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
Photo: ©19/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 400mm
ISO: 250
1/2000” f5.6
Head underwater
Seeking a duck’s normal fare
Small bits and pieces
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Female
Photo: ©19/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 400mm
ISO: 3200
1/2000” f5.6
Between water beads
Eyes of amber see the shore
In spectrums outside mine
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Female
Photo: ©19/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 400mm
ISO: 1000
1/2000” f5.6
Peeling paint — concrete
Windows empty and threadbare
Against a summer sky
Photo: ©19/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 33mm
ISO: 125
1/500” f8
Still learning the ropes
Of the Crested Grebe’s wet world
Earning its colours
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)—Juvenile
Photo: ©19/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 400mm
ISO: 500
1/2000” f8
the wind and the waves
the hole in the bow—no help
this spot has found me
Photo: ©19/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 33mm
ISO: 125
1/2000” f1.4
The only company
The remains of a long dead tree
Forgotten by man
Photo: ©19/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 270.6mm
ISO: 125
5” f6.4
Beneath the surface
Standing tall and fast alone
—Abandoned mooring
Photo: ©19/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 270.6mm
ISO: 125
5” f6.4
Darkness hides beneath
Murky waters hold secrets
Reaching deep within
Photo: ©19/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 33mm
ISO: 125
240” f10
A meteor streaks through
The dark night above the roofs
Faint and so fleeting
Photo: ©13/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Place de la République
Bain-de-Bretagne, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 8mm
ISO: 1000
30” f3.5
Stand before the fall
Confidence holding on fast
Safety—flap your wings
Photo: ©16/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Guipry-Messac, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 521.6mm
ISO: 800
1/2000” f7.8
Les jours longue d’été
L’eau continue son chemin
Sans bouger il attend
The long days of summer
The water continues on
Without moving he waits
Photo: ©16/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Guipry-Messac, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 560mm
ISO: 800
1.5” f8
Motionless in motion
Patience is as much a virtue
As knowing where to stand
Photo: ©16/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Guipry-Messac, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 560mm
ISO: 800
1.5” f8
Grasses stand against
The flowing river’s power
Resolutely here
Photo: ©16/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Guipry-Messac, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 406.8mm
ISO: 800
20” f18
The water rushes by
Every day the rocks lose ground
A game of rock-water
Photo: ©16/08/2023-Phil Wahlbrink
Guipry-Messac, Brittany, France
Camera: FUJIFILM X-T5
Lens: 140mm
ISO: 125
30” f32
