Pseudo Homers and Pseudo William

The beauty of the early haiku men,

Of Basho, Buson, best of pioneers,

Is their disciples followed them; true men

Loved learning from these poets lacking peers,

But devotees of Western poets failed

To happen, not in masters’ times.  Perhaps,

Though, Homer’s writing was too often trailed

By weaker poets.  Centuries would elapse

Before they tried to follow him, and so,

Because they never knew him, they could not

Be actual disciples.  They might sew

Like him.  Failed epics are what they begot.

  Though Coleridge adored his Wordsworth, they

    Wrote differently, one orange and one grand gray.

~ Phillip Whidden