Haiku (俳句 high-koo) Poetry

I am currently working on a course and one of the writing assignments was to write a Haiku Poem. Those who are not familiar with this kind of writing, here is some information.

Haiku (俳句 high-koo) are short poems that use language based on the five senses to capture a feeling or image. They are often inspired by Nature, a moment of beauty or a moving or emotional experience. Haiku poetry was originally developed by Japanese poets, and poets adapted the form to English and other languages by poets around the world.

Here's how to write a haiku:

English haiku often (but not always) consists of 17 syllables. Haiku poetry has changed over time, and most poets no longer stick to this structure, in either Japanese or English; modern haiku may have more than 17 sounds or as few as one.

If you want to try a "traditional" haiku, you write it in three lines, with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the third. 5-7-5 is no longer considered to be the rule for haiku in English, it is still often taught that way. You can follow this rule or not.

When you're deciding how many sounds or syllables to use in your haiku, keep in mind the Japanese idea that the haiku should be able to be spoken in one breath. In English, that usually means the poem will be 10 to 14 syllables long. This haiku was written by American novelist Jack Kerouac:

Snow in my shoe
Abandoned
Sparrow's nest

If you count the syllables, you'll see Kerouac used a 4-3-3 structure.

Haiku should always contain two ideas that appear different. The two parts are grammatically independent--that is, they each form a different sentence or phrase. They usually present two different images as well. Look at Kerouac's haiku and see if you can understand this idea.

The idea is to create a "leap" between the two parts, and to increase the meaning of the poem by bringing about an "internal comparison." Writing this two-part structure can be the hardest part of writing a haiku, because it can be very difficult to avoid too-obvious a connection between the two parts, yet also avoid too great a distance between them.

My Haiku Poetry:

Beautiful Sunset

My love is nigh

Time frozen tonight