Anyone Can Write a Haiku
It just takes three lines and 17 syllables
The classic Japanese haiku has a few rules:
*It is often written in one line.
*It also usually has a nature theme.
*And one of the four seasons is often mentioned.
The Japanese poet also sometimes uses a cutting word (kireji) that connects two thoughts. English language poets sometimes use a dash or ellipse in place of the cutting word.
The classic English language haiku is three lines with a syllabic pattern of 5–7–5. I have seen variations of the 17 syllables. Some modern poets are more comfortable with a 3–5–3 pattern — Hey, go for it! Now you only have to come up with 11 syllables!
The very limit of going your own way regarding brief haiku poems is this famous one-word haiku. Yes, I said one word. You can find it here.
Beat Generation poet and writer Jack Kerouac is credited with writing the first baseball haiku:
Empty baseball field —
A robin,
Hops along the bench
I thought I would give it a try and came up with these three examples the other day:
Fire Season in California
summer’s scorching sun
no water, no tears, just wind
what have we wrought, God?
Listening to Stardust by Los Indios Tabajares
stars in winter’s night
remembering love now gone
strumming music soothes
California Drought
mountains glistening
blue spring water receding
splashing waves, no more
Note that most haiku poets do not include titles for their poems.
For more information on haiku including examples see these two Wikipedia articles: Haiku and Haiku in English.
The Heron’s Nest is an online quarterly anthology of haiku. Skimming for a few minutes in the section called Archives will tell you that most modern poets don’t pay attention to the 5–7–5 rule.
OK, now it’s your turn!
