Welcome To Haiku Hub
The publication ‘where less is mora’
The haiku poem, now elevated far above the playful game of wit and precision it once was, is credited to two undisputed Japanese masters of the form, Matsuo Bashō and Ueshima Onitsura, who brought haiku to its pinnacle of popularity by the 17th century and where it now remains an enduring and accessible staple of the poetic art form the world around.
Haiku’s arrival was the end result of a handful of these two rogue Japanese poets challenging, experimenting and ultimatley whittling down the more established forms of Japanese poetry, the renga and renku. Thus, these poets, along with others who quickly followed their lead, unwittingly reduced the poetic status quo to a dagger of artistic precision with a twist.
The crux of the haiku is all about subtracting what is not needed, compacting and paring down an experience of some thing or event, usually in the natural world, to a tiny seed dropped in the imagination of the reader where it begins to bloom at the moment of cutting.
Haiku is about mindfulness rather than distraction, equally as important, it’s about connection. Even as the haiku juxtaposes seemingly unrelated elements the reader and lover of haiku is suddenly struck with how the two are related.
The haiku can lead us to the place where we connect in the most unexpected and surprising ways to nature and to each other with one artful transposition in just 17 sounds or syllables. Amazing, right!?
In only seventeen syllables, or sound units, also known as moras, we are transported. Hence, less is mora!
Haiku challenges and encourages us to “see the forest” by looking closely at a particular tree for a moment. Haiku believes we can see both trees and forest by subtracting what is not needed and grabbing one’s attention with a surprising twist.
I adore and deeply respect the art form of the haiku poem. The two elements I love most are the connection to nature and the surprising, and at times, not so subtle humor or the twist.
As I practice haiku I find it delightfully simple and challenging. To render a piece of poetry capable of conveying so much with so little. When haiku tugs at my sleeve, I’m always delighted to oblige and take up the task, puzzling my heart and mind over the best 17 moras or syllables to choose.
It’s powerful yet, compact, simple and direct while also charming and expansive. With just three lines, it carries with it the ability to move our imaginations toward a more mindful presence with nature and community by capturing and evoking the essence of a place or event in time.
When the poet accepts the parameters of haiku the challenge the fun begins. Devise three lines containing the pattern of 5–7–5 moras or syllables to each line around your theme in a way that uniquely captures your subject always with some aspect of life subtly tucked in the background or forefront of the poem.
Of course, as I’ve tried to convey above, there is so much more to this deceptively simple art form; thus, the best understanding of haiku can be gained from reading and writing it.
In that spirit, we invite you to join us around the Haiku Hub!
We accept unpublished haiku in draft only.
Please do not add promotional links of any kind to your piece.
A short writer’s bio is acceptable.
Please bear in mind the basics of haiku are found in nature.
As of June 12, 2020, our submission process and writing roster is closed. We will reopen for writer applications at the close of our current hiatus. Until then, create peace with your poetry and actions.
