A California mortgage broker, probably trying to fill time once spent arranging mortgages, has taken to writing haikus about the present predicament. Each of his poems is printed on a piece of Japanese art.

The broker, Mike Mueller, told the San Jose Mercury News that he wrote the haikus mostly for an audience of other real estate professionals. Consider the example at right, which bemoans the industry's plight.

Others, however, will resonate with borrowers, too:

Homeownership dreams
or a financial nightmare?
I am your mortgage.

Accusing a mortgage broker of creativity generally is not a compliment, but of Mueller I mean it in the nicest possible way.

Have a real estate haiku in you? The standard poem is three lines of five, seven and five syllables. Post yours below.