Page "Senryū" Paragraph 16

Terayama, who wrote about playing hide-and-seek in the graveyard as a child, thought of himself as the odd one out, the one who was always " it " in hide-and-seek.

Indeed, the original haiku included the theme " oni " ( the " it " in Japanese is a demon, though in some parts a very young child forced to play " it " was called a " sea slug " ( namako )).

To him, seeing a game of hide-and-seek, or recalling it as it grew cold would be a chilling experience.

Terayama might also have recalled opening his eyes and finding himself all alone, feeling the cold more intensely than he did a minute before among other children.

Either way, any genuinely personal experience would be haiku and not senryū in the classic sense.

If you think Terayama's poem uses a child's game to express in hyperbolic metaphor how, in retrospect, life is short, and nothing more, then this would indeed work as a senryū.

Otherwise, it is a bona-fide haiku.

There is also the possibility that it is a joke about playing hide and seek, only to realize ( winter having arrived during the months spent hiding ) that no one wants to find you.