The winners of 19th senryū contest held annually by Toto Ltd., the Japanese multinational company that makes bathroom fixtures. Senryū is basically a haiku-form poem that deals with human foibles while the traditional haiku is about nature.
The award for the most creative works went to three poems, all of them most people can relate to:
The word / I hate the most right now / is “Occupied”
Ima ichiban / kiraina kotoba / shiyōchū
今いちばん 嫌いな言葉 「使用中」
– Matchan
Hiragana chart / turns to kanji chart / on our (toilet) wall
Hiragana ga / kanji ni kawaru / kabe no hyō
ひらがなが 漢字に変わる 壁の表
–Natsuki
Refilling toilet paper / is not / automatic, you know
Kami hojū / sorewa jidōja / nai desu yo
紙補充 それは自動じゃ ないですよ
–Mother of a 3-year-old
The frustration of waiting for your turn, people ignoring the empty toilet paper holder, and the sudden realization that you have grown up.
The grand prize went to a woman who submitted a poem “describing the day when her child, who had relied on her to the extent of following her into the bathroom, grew up and left home.”
The day the child / who even followed me to the toilet / leaves home
トイレまで 追ってきた子が 出ていく日
Toire made / otte kita ko ga / dete iku hi
–Satchan
This is one of the good things about haiku: it is so short, what is left unsaid can be the message itself.
More at Toto’s website.