Renshuu.org - Study Japanese Online

Today I picked up a book of haiku that includes the original Japanese w/English translations. I'm trying to improve my appreciation for poetry (I like classic literature, but I've always thought of poetry as kinda "lame" so I decided I should give it another chance). When I saw the book of 俳句 I thought ... well, 一石二鳥 ... でしょう？

I'm hoping to gain some insight into what makes a "good" haiku (apart from simply following the construction "rules"). I find the use of 季語 interesting, which from my understanding are a bit like keywords for certain seasons (桜=spring, 蝉=summer, 月=autumn, etc). However, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the 切れ字 thing  

So I was wondering ... does anyone out there have a favorite haiku?

Or how about a favorite proverb/ことわざ/四字熟語？

I've always liked 猿も木から落ちる (even monkeys fall from trees) and 井の中の蛙、大海を知らず (the frog in the well does not know the great sea). And my favorite 四字熟語 is the one I use for my hanko - 暗中模索 ... story of my life  

I think my favorite 四字熟語 would have to be 十人十色, 'ten people, ten colors' - basically it means 'to each his own,' or 'one man's trash is another man's treasure;' that everyone has their own likes and dislikes.

I like that one ... I really hope there's truth to it
It reminded me of another that's similar - 雨垂れ石を穿つ (constant drops of water can eventually bore through stone). I'm not sure whether I think Japanese is more like an enormous mountain or impenetrable rock