Richard Wright (1908-60) author of the classic 20-th-century novels "Black Boy" and "Native Son," was living in exile in Paris and facing death when he began to write haiku. So deep was his connection and so strong his commitment to the form that he composed over 4,000 verses during the last 18 months of his life, carrying his notebook with him throughout the day.
In the "mathematical" syllable count he found a kind of emotional net, and in the deep connection with nature he found a kind of mirror for the seasons of the soul.
According to his daughter Julia, Wright's haiku were "self-developed antidotes against illness," wherein "breaking down words into syllables matched the shortness of his breath." She read this haiku at his memorial: Burning out its time,/ And timing its own burning, / One lonely candle.