Haiku

Introducing

How to write a Haiku?

Creating your haiku…

We have features for every step of the way

1Japanese vs. English 2How are

haiku made?

3Seasonal

reference

4Sensory descriptions

5Practice

Japanese vs. English

Japanese vs. English

1

English haiku writers use 17 syllables as a maximum and often compress the poems into around 11-13 syllables.

Traditional Japanese pattern:17 syllables3 lines*1st line: 5 syllables*2nd line: 7 syllables*3rd line: 5 syllables

Japanese vs. English Haiku

Japanese

English

2 How are haiku made?

How are haiku made?

This form is a good vehicle for capturing a single moment in time. It is relatively simple to learn, but can take years to master. Like a small jewel, the closer and more deeply you look at the form, the more complex and more mysterious it becomes.

Haiku comes from your ah huh moments…

Haiku is began with a moment by the author and finished by the reader in their meditation.

3 Seasonal Reference

Many haiku seem to focus on nature, but what they are really focusing on is a seasonal reference (not all of which are

necessarily about nature).

4 Sensory Description

Haiku are based on the five senses. They are about things you can experience, not your interpretation or analysis of those

things.

5 Practice

Like any other art, haiku takes practice. Basho said that each haiku should be a thousand times on the tongue. It is important to distinguish between pseudo-haiku that says whatever the author

thinks in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern and literary haiku that adheres to the use of season words, a two-part juxtapositional structure, and primarily objective sensory imagery.

• Haiku are called unfinished poems because one requires reader to finish it with her heart.

• Rhythm 5-7-5• Haiku does not have to serious but it must

paint a picture.• Haiku are untitled and word haiku is

singular and plural

Pro Choice or Pro LifeWarmth of hands coldness of room

Summers to winters