Poetic Musings: Lights Out Haiku by Peggy Willis Lyles

summer night

we turn out all the lights

to hear the rain

To Hear the Rain: Selected Haiku of Peggy Lyles, 2002

Peggy Willis Lyles

Commentary: ...When the season is named, as in Lyles’ “summer night,” we can expect the rest of the poem to build on that context. It is night time, so we know it must be late if it’s during the summer. And surely it’s been a long dry summer, too, if rain is enough of a novelty to warrant the putting out of lights to hear it better. The poem presents a moment of celebration... In her poem we find rich evocations of the season... -- excerpted from "Thirteen Ways of Reading Haiku" by Michael Dylan Welch

Note: You can read the full text here, To the Lighthouse: "Thirteen Ways of Reading Haiku" by Michael Dylan Welch