Since I'm not completely self-deluded, I know I'll never be a great fighter.  Since I'm partially delusional, I think I have some talents in the creative arts.   Fortunately for me (who fights in Japanese persona mode) these two threads come together in the jisei ("death poem," roughly translated). 

Resolved:  to compose jisei for each fight, or at least each fight practice.  (See the notes on my songwriting page, but it's a concept that fighters probably find easier to understand than artists:  to be a fighter, you must fight; to be a writer, you must write)

As nearly as I can tell from my research (I looked it up on the web),  jisei have no fixed form.  I've chosen to start with haiku (5-7-5), with an eye towards eventually writing the more formal tanka (5-7-5-7-7).

To that end, here's a haiku jisei I composed today:

Falling autumn leaves

So quick they are to vanish

Like springtime blossoms.