approaching haiku

Haiku is commonly described as a nature poem in three lines with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second line, and 5 in the third line. This definition is at best old-fashioned and at worst erroneous.

The reality of haiku today is much more complicated. It is a powerful discipline that is ripe with the potential to engage with the world in new ways.

In my explorations of English language haiku, I have found the following approaches to be useful for substantive writing and the proper mindset:

• use no titles (haiku are identified by their first line)
• write in present tense
• show, don’t tell
• the 5-7-5 syllable structure has largely fallen out of fashion in favor of haiku with fewer than 17 syllables
• use simple, everyday language
• three lines is most common, but one, two, and four lines are also acceptable
• avoid end rhymes
• haiku experiences will arise from your surroundings, stay alert!
• write directly, so that your readers can easily imagine themselves having the experience you’ve captured
• let things be as they are, elaboration is unnecessary
• don’t proselytize
• present an experience for the reader to interpret
• use a phrase and a fragment that juxtapose each other
• see the universal connections in common, everyday experiences
• name or imply a season
• honor small, simple things
• as much as possible, keep your ego out of it

For further exploration, visit The Haiku Foundation at: https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/

The following online journals display a wide range of the expressions contemporary haiku is capable of:

• https://www.theheronsnest.com/
• http://www.bonesjournal.com/
• http://www.cattailsjournal.com
• https://www.underthebasho.com/
• https://femkumag.wixsite.com/home

For a lively audio exploration of haiku, listen to the Poetry Pea Podcast: https://poetrypea.com/category/podcast/