Top “Tax Day” Haiku Poems

You may have noticed the title doesn’t say Top 10 Tax Day Haiku Poems, as we normally would do. This is because we are trying to avoid detection under the tax code, which would require that we return the marginal tax rate of 39.6% of those poems to the federal government. In any case, enjoy this little collection of tax day poems that compounded itself in the comment box in one of our haiku posts. Track your expenses right, and you may be able to take a little deduction at the end.

In order of appearance (and form number)*:

1040

snow falls after tax day
grass, tulips, violets plot
green spring will win

—Laura Lynn Brown

1040A

after tax day, hopes
for a windfall morning
snow green violets

—L.L. Barkat

1040EZ

tax day on delay
too busy–can’t find papers
interest is mounting

—Sandra Heska King

1040ES

so many texting
woes on April seventeenth
tax texts are taxing

—Richard Maxson

Schedule A

alligator sprawls
snout slimed with pond scum–stillness
just a coverup.

—Sandra Heska King

This little alligator haiku was tax-exempt, but inspired a further tax poem from Maureen:

close your purse — no tax
on alligator hides till
spring mating’s over

—Maureen Doallas

Schedule B

Tax day grey sky
cold wind cold cash
sharp edges everywhere

—Mary Augusta Thomas

Schedule C

two fingers marching
onto my plate for french fries
(this is the mommy tax)

—Donna Falcone

Schedule D

rocking chairs on grass
money flying out the door
caution: yellow taped

—Sandra Heska King

Schedule E

well taxed to the max
contemplating taxes — late
too taxing — take nap.

—Sandra Heska King

Schedule SE

Tax day here and gone
Dependable annuals
Awaken; spring sings.

—Karyn

*The “Form Numbers” are our addition to the tax haiku picture. None of the haiku have actual titles. But they may contain happy reading returns.

Browse other haiku resources 

Photo by Franck Blais, Creative Commons license via Flickr.

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Will Willingham

Director of Many Things; Senior Editor, Designer and Illustrator at Tweetspeak Poetry

I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel, Adjustments, is available now.

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