![Haiku Animals: Morita Kako, Dragonfly on Stalk of Rush](https://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/8/12/1281606692184/Morita-Kako-Dragonfly-on--001.jpg)
Woodblock print, colours on paper, c.1900
it comes to my shoulder
longing for human company:
a red dragonfly
Natsume Soseki
he has dyed his body
with autumn -
the dragonfly
Bakusui
Photograph: The Trustees of the British Museum Photograph: Action images
![Haiku Animals: Kawamura Bunpo, Rabbits (detail) from Handscroll of Japanese Subjects.](https://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/8/12/1281606693245/Kawamura-Bunpo-Rabbits-de-002.jpg)
Painting, ink and colours on paper, c.1807
even the rabbit
droops one of her ears -
midsummer heat!
Akutagawa Ryunosuke Photograph: The Trustees of the British Museum
![Haiku Animals: Onchi Koshiro, Fish, Jellyfish, Squid and Coral](https://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/8/12/1281606695428/Onchi-Koshiro-Fish-Jellyf-004.jpg)
Colour woodblock print, right section of a triptych, 1937
like squids
bank clerks are fluorescent
from the morning
Kaneko Tota Photograph: The Trustees of the British Museum
![Haiku Animals: Kinoshita Oju, Two Trout in Flowing Water](https://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/8/12/1281606697532/Kinoshita-Oju-Two-Trout-i-006.jpg)
Hanging scroll painting, ink and colours on paper, c.1800-1810
a trout leaps;
clouds are moving
in the bed of the stream
Onitsura
in the evening,
the bellies of the trout,
seen in the shallows
Onitsura
Photograph: The Trustees of the British Museum Photograph: Action images
![Haiku Animals: Inagaki Tomoo, Stretching Cat](https://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/8/12/1281606694392/Inagaki-Tomoo-Stretching--003.jpg)
Woodblock print, colours on paper, mainly brown pigments, 1963
awaking from sleep,
yawning, stretching, slinking out
in search of love: cat
Issa Photograph: The Trustees of the British Museum
![Haiku Animals: Anon, Grebe on the Water with Irises](https://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/8/12/1281606696574/Anon-Grebe-on-the-Water-w-005.jpg)
Ink and colours on paper, early 19th century
the water-fowl
lays its beak on its breast
and sleeps as it floats
Ginko
the grebe
when it becomes lonely
dives into the water
Hino Sojo Photograph: The Trustees of the British Museum
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