H is for Haiku! (A to Z Blogging Challenge 2015)

I love Haiku. I don’t really know how to write it, but that doesn’t stop me from writing it—albeit badly.  Maybe I enjoy trying to form complete images in exactly 17 syllables because I’m usually too wordy.

My rudimentary understanding of Haiku is this:

Haiku is a Japanese art form made up of 17 on or morae (word symbols) which paint a sensory picture of a moment, or evoke a poignant feeling, which usually involves nature or a seasonal reference. Typically it includes a juxtaposition of two differing images which leads to a kireji (cutting word or turning point) that evokes a realization of how they relate to one another.  The break is usually after the second stanza; however, can be after the first.

The English speaking form of Haiku is a poem of 17 syllables, typically divided into three stanza composed of 5-7-5 syllables respectively.  English Haiku is frequently non-rhyming, and is not as strict at involving nature.  It uses no punctuation or capitalization, and it may or may not have a title.

I usually don’t involve nature. I also may or may not express idea juxtaposition. I frequently am happy just to have whittled the idea down to exactly 17 syllables.  In the truest sense of the word, I do not write Haiku. I write pseudo-haiku.

Just for fun, here is my pseudo-Haiku on what I take away as the composition of English Haiku…

 

juxtaposed word art

five seven five syllable
idea fusion