The “Aug 7th” Haiku of Darryl Wharton-Rigby

At the core of Darryl Wharton-Rigby’s art, aside from making films and telling stories, he’s a writer. Powerful work speaks for itself and it needs no assistance in asserting or revealing the meaning behind it. Since I’ve never posted creative writing on TMG outside of my own, I thought it was necessary to introduce these haiku that he wrote over the course of 16 years.

When he wasn’t working on a screenplay, his initial intention was to write a 5/7/5 everyday for 100 days, but more came out of him. “Lots of memories in these poems. Life in Los Angeles. First trip to Japan. Relationships that started and ended. Moving to Japan. Meeting my wife. The children. Going to grad school. Fukushima (3/11),” Darryl said. Every haiku was written on August 7th of every year, from 2001 to 2016. Read below. 

7 aug 2001
twelve years old running
beautiful in slow motion
youthful memories

7 aug 2002
one year of haiku
spiritual cleansing through
heart of written word

7 aug 2003
envelope soul of flesh
sweat avoid passion gently
free will transpires

7 aug 2004
flying exhausted
three day road trip one day back
helping a friend rise

7 aug 2005
hot nihon sunday
washing clothes in solitude
new life adjustment

7 aug 2006
we settle our ghosts
hugging agnostic silence
believing nothing

7 aug 2007
ball of confusion
creates everyday events
adding up to nil

7 aug 2008
re-education
life cycle adjustment flows
answering questions

7 aug 2009
aquamarine day
dolphins penguins sea lions
babies enjoying

7 aug 2010
gotta get more sleep
jet lag creeps like assassin
total knock out punch

7 aug 2011
shooting natori
short film obon much respect
to those who perished

hanabi raindrops
children’s laughter total joy
smiles light up the sky

7 aug 2012
nobody listens
children must hear their parents
lest repercussions

7 aug 2013
anniversary
distraught pages are missing
work gone forever

7 aug 2016
shizuoka
excellent hotel this time
small quaint little town

Earlier this year I interviewed Darryl about his acclaimed film Stay and he gave me his all time bangers. Watch the movie trailer and read the interview here. For updates and screenings, follow Darryl @whartonrigby