“The Law of Seersucker” is an interesting post on the Mockingbird blog. It’s subject is the unwritten but much debated rules about when seersucker suits can be worn. For those who hate them, the answer is obvious: Never. For those who do like them in the North, the answer is from Memorial Day to Labor Day, which that post on Mockingbird notes as “a short 101 days!” For Southerners who like them, including me, the season for seersucker is a bit longer from Easter Day to Labor Day.

Needless to say, this oral tradition raises lots of questions. For example, what’s a gentleman to do at Eastertide if he lives in Missouri? Most importantly, does it matter? Since moving to Houston, I’m living in a subtropical climate. Wouldn’t it make sense to wear seersucker here as long as it’s hot? That is, after all, the reason people began wearing clothes made out of this material. I have to confess that it’s tempting to break the rule, exercising my unalienable right to pursue happiness.

So let’s write a haiku about rules — breaking them, mocking them, fearing them, not breaking them, being too scared to color outside the lines, etc. Here’s mine:

What makes me happy?
Seersucker and white bucks, then . . .
Labor Day. Sadness.

Now it’s your turn. The “rules” are simple: Write one verse only, using five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line.