For years, an old man
Strode out with his Labrador,
Then shuffled alone
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Poetry
Old man and dog
A haiku poem
Reviews (2)
Rachelle Allen
5/18/2026
Wahhhh. That's happened to a woman on our street this week, too. She had an enormous chow-chow who got slower and less stable on his enormous feet for many months. She was SOO generous about not ever rushing that creature. Then, last week, she was alone every single day on her walks through the neighborhood. You captured it so perfectly here, Rachel. Great work. xoxo
5/17/2026
The Words That Got to Me
“Then shuffled alone” This movement from “strode” to “shuffled” is especially effective. It compresses years of ageing and loss into a single physical change.
Suggestions / Possible Tweaks
My only small correction would be to say, this is not really a haiku. A traditional haiku tends to centre on nature, seasonality, or a moment of perception in the external world. A senryū uses the same short form but turns towards human nature, emotion, irony, sadness, or social observation. Your poem’s emotional core is the human shift from companionship to solitude. The Labrador is present, but not as a nature image in the haiku sense; it functions as part of the human story.
A well-written senryū. I have always loved Japanese short poetic forms. The ability to capture an idea, a moment, even a whole lifetime in such a small space has a beauty and purity all of its own. This paints a poignant and somewhat sad picture of a man’s life and the bond he shared with his companion.