Gaia: HAIKU - About Haiku Poetry

Haiku Guidelines

http://siona.gaia.com — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:43:17 GMT

I found this wonderful list of what Haiku isn't (and is) some time ago, and it's guided my own Haiku ever since. Enjoy!

Haiku:

1. Haiku isn't a prose sentence divided Into 3 lines of 5-7-5 syllables, nor a “dribble of prose.” Haiku is an art form that requires study and discipline.

2. Haiku isn't always divided into 5-7-5 syllables. The 5-7-5 count refers to the Japanese onji (symbol/sound) not to English language syllables. It is usually in a short/long/short form. It isn't “padded” with modifiers to make the count come out right.

3. Haiku isn't poetics (in the English-language-poetry sense) but is pure poetry.

4. Haiku isn't simile or metaphor. Simile and metaphor turn haiku into English-poetics.

5. Haiku isn't an intellectual statement. It is an intuitive response to nature.

6. Haiku isn't a picture postcard or a “pretty picture”. It is a moment of heightened awareness which may be shared by the reader. It should have depths of meaning.

7. Haiku isn't a three-line poem with the first or last line a title for the other two. All three lines should be necessary to the clarity of the haiku. Don't waste word-space.

8. Haiku isn't summed-up by the poet's intellectual comment regarding the experience. It is left open-ended, so that the reader can share in its creation.

9. Haiku isn't a clutter of words strung together to get a 5-7-5 syllable count, or a staccato tongue-twister. Haiku should flow, especially when read aloud. It doesn't rhyme, except rarely. Avoid run-on lines. Take the time to write haiku without them.

10. Haiku isn't a mechanical poetry with rhythms (i.e. iambic pentameter) but the line endings should be as complete a thought as possible, with the total poem as the total expression. Haiku requires polishing! “Anything worth doing is worth doing well”.

11. Haiku isn't of human values, morals, judgments, comments, etc. It isn't an epigram or a couplet. It isn't didactic, either overtly or covertly. It is of Nature & the “Nature of Things”. Capturing the “Nature of Things” is the essence of good haiku.

12. Haiku isn't anthropomorphic, as English-language poetry. No humanizing of nature or personification! Rather, Naturalize human beings. This is a subtle difference.

13. Haiku isn't a generalization about something. It is a specific thing/time/place/season/event. It is nature poetry in the Japanese sense (ZEN-like). It is in the present moment.

14. Haiku isn't a “tell-all”. It is indicating by not saying. Show, don't tell.

15. Haiku isn't obscure. The season (ki) should be named, or a season-word (kigo) used. The reader should be able to co-create the mood/season/event. Be specific. Don't say “tree” if you mean elm; don't say “bird” if you mean wren, for instance. The thing/time/place/season should be apparent to the reader. Avoid “this” or “that” bird/insect/leaf etc. Unnecessary.

16. Haiku isn't a “pretty picture”, nor is it deliberately grim for the sake of “showing off”. It is an interplay between two or more things/objects in a state of unresolved tension - don't tell the reader how to react, or feel; leave the reader something to co-create.

17. Haiku isn't just anything that comes to mind. It is a specific enlightened experience shared with the reader. It is heightened awareness not imaginary images. It IS what is going on right here/right now, not a day-dream or exposition.

18. Use no unnecessary words, that overlap or say the same thing such as April/Spring, Winter/Snow. Each word should have value & importance. Choose carefully.

19. Haiku isn't just a “little poem” by anyone who can count to 17. The Masters of the Art worked at it, sometimes an entire lifetime.

20. Haiku isn't easy to write, but when you get “hooked” you'll be glad you tried it. The study & discipline sharpen the perception & improve all other fields of writing, as well as adding zest to living. Haiku is what is!

Re: How to Write Haiku

http://mitzvahmom.gaia.com — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:09:14 GMT

All weekend it has rained in Tampa. We've all got summer colds, so for hours we sit watching movies, sipping chicken soup and tea, reading, napping. Way to content to imagine pulling together for Monday morning. Will we rise to the occasion, meet expectations? Maybe, maybe not. The world can wait if we are late.

long wet froggy days
ambivlant, little slugs
sunrise is certain

Re: How to Write Haiku

http://wil.gaia.com — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:33:34 GMT

ah, or awe...

she's been back at the pool again with her offspring...
what a glorious thing, watching them explore the freedom
the closest thing to their first nine months
watching them swim, watching them learn, a rebirth everytime...
every new experience causes a tendril to stretch and expand the neuronet
building a ground work that paves the way for the next adventure.

born into new world
with each nueuron created
a pathway opens

Re: How to Write Haiku

http://mitzvahmom.gaia.com — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:12:32 GMT

beautiful!

I'll try:

summer light child limbs

breath, kick, stroke turn breath kick stroke

little stick fish swims

Seeds from a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey

http://camphappiness.gaia.com — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 20:00:45 GMT

Writing haiku poems can be an important part of your spiritual path. This book, highly recommended by Siona, is available from Amazon:

1.

Seeds From a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey by Clark Strand (Paperback - Jul 8, 1998)

15 Used & new from $5.98

(14)

Other Editions: Hardcover

Re: How to Write Haiku

http://brucealderman.gaia.com — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 01:33:06 GMT

Waiting for haiku,

Blue dragonfly darts over page -

Quicker than ink.

Writing Haiku & The Spiritual Journey

http://camphappiness.gaia.com — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 23:51:17 GMT

Siona says this is her favorite book about haiku, and enthusiastically recommends it to all of us:

Seeds from a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku & the Spiritual Journey, by Clark Strand. (Available from www.amazon.com )

Coming soon! A collaborative collection of books and resources about all things HAIKU, and more, where you can add in your favorite books of haiku, and other resources about writing in general, such as the superb books of Natalie Goldberg, whose writing is her Zen Practice.

I will post my own list, and then invite all of you to contribute as well, with special emphasis on those texts which speak to elements of haiku as meditation, awareness, and spiritual practice, but by no means limited to these. Silly haiku, hilarious haiku, and pop haiku are all welcome!

Re: How to Write Haiku

http://brucealderman.gaia.com — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 06:21:30 GMT

Wonderful!

How to Write Haiku

http://camphappiness.gaia.com — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 06:17:29 GMT

have beginner's mind:

calm, like a cat in the sun

let haiku write you!

alex noble

Come join our HAIKU adventure and read, write and share!

digital art by alex noble in adobe photo shop

Re: What is Haiku?

http://Steven-Caylor.gaia.com — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:43:38 GMT

Haiku
Spirit's Song
Music

The Gaps!
W-Here Light is Found
Haiku

Want to Know?
This Love of Haiku?
Haiku is You!

What is Haiku?

http://camphappiness.gaia.com — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:37:09 GMT

what is haiku?
what is a cloud
floating by?

what is the croaking
of a warty green frog?
reedeep, reedeep

haiku is form
and no form
mind and no mind

it is not what we think
or might want
or try to make it

it is something else
conceptual architecture
when seagulls circle

haiku is the spaces
in between
worlds within a few words

no one writes haiku
it cannot be written
it is movement of thought

haiku is waking up
it is that aha!
it is being present

forget all your words
and ideas about things
that is not haiku

haiku is what happens
when you let go
of the search for meaning

haiku is that warty green frog
blinking at you, and then jumping
into the water with a splash

alex noble

Re: Why I Love Haiku

http://camphappiness.gaia.com — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:50:26 GMT

The point in haiku is to understand the form, and then feel free to make iti your own, like the great American writer Jack Kerouac did.

Why I Love Haiku

http://camphappiness.gaia.com — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 06:56:43 GMT

(This short essay appeared in the Spring Newsletter for The Japanese Connection, which you should visit if you love all things Japanese. )

Why I Love Writing Haiku

Why do I love writing haiku? There are many answers I can give to this question, but let me share with you one that is especially satisfying to me. This is that quality of timelessness that haiku writing carries with it. For me, haiku stops time. The discipline of searching for, finding, and capturing a “haiku moment” in the midst of daily pressures and chaos, is like a meditation. And, as a meditative process, it brings a calm, centered sense of purpose, and allows me to step aside from the ‘ten thousand things” and visit an island out of time, a place where time ceases to exist as we normally know it.

Perhaps it is the intense focus on a single, pure concept. Perhaps it is the sudden, almost overpowering discovery of vibrant beauty in the midst of the ordinary. Perhaps it is the invitation to step outside of myself and see with new vision, fresh perception. For whatever reason, the writing of haiku creates a space all its own, a sacred space where I can catch my breath and become awake to a higher order of beauty and mystery in the world around me. Why? Because haiku invites me into a magic garden where I can be fully present and alive to a single, perfect moment, one which will probably never be repeated, or revisited. It is in this “haiku moment” that I feel one with all things.

Haiku moments can be found anywhere and everywhere, once we decide to see with our “haiku eyes.” For example, imagine in your mind’s eye:

A single bright red maple leaf floating on a dark pond…

A seagull, writing its winged calligraphy against a yellow dawn sky…

A black caterpillar bristling its way up a jade green stalk of bamboo…

See and feel deeply each of these images, and then bring one of these images into form in a haiku poem. The classic structure is five syllables for the first line, seven for the second, and back to five in the third line. While this may seem to be a demanding form, it is also profoundly liberating. As you enter the moment with all your senses, and also with appreciation for the beauty you have encountered, you will find that everything falls away, and you are left in a special communion with your subject, whether it be maple leaf, seagull, caterpillar, or your own discovery. And you will find yourself suddenly reinvigorated, refreshed, and newly awake to the thousands of haiku moments all around you, all the time.

So, if you have not tried haiku writing before, look around you, right now. Find an image that speaks to you, embrace it, and put it into form. And post it here! We look forward to hearing from you!

AJN

Read some of my recent Haiku poems on my Blog:

www.camphappiness.zaadz.com/blog