Turku

Did you know that Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) invented the haiku?

He was visiting Japan when the idea for the three-line, seventeen syllable poem came to him.  He was bowling and trying to pick up the seven-ten split. He named his invention "haiku," the Japanese word for bowling.  The complete history of the haiku is HERE.

Shortly after Dickinson's best friend Abraham Lincoln made his national Thanksgiving proclamation, Dickinson established the haiku as the official poetry form for the holiday.  He published a substantial and important tome (pictured at the right) called "Turku," a name he dubbed Thanksgiving-themed haiku.

Many examples of Dickinson's turkus are HERE (scroll down to the entry dated November 28th). More examples can be found HERE.   
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For your holiday enjoyment, here are still more classic haikus -- Turkus -- of Emmett Lee Dickinson:
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Trick or Treat -- and then 
Countdown to Christmas!  It's the 
War on Thanksgiving!
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Thanksgiving's coming
And the turkey's getting fat!
Alas! So am I.
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I'm on a diet
And Thanksgiving approaches.
I'll diet next week.
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Christmas is coming
And this goose is getting fat --
I'll diet next year!

Pi Day's March fourteenth.
A better pie day occurs
On Thanksgiving Day!
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Sweet potato pie,
Pecan pie, and pumpkin pie --
Must be Thanksgiving!
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Shop till you drop to
Battle the War on Christmas!
Black Friday matters!
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On Thanksgiving night
There's nothing better than a
Plate of left-overs!