Haiku: A Japanese poem traditionally evoking images of the natural world.

Vanessa Proctor President of the Australian Haiku Society sent through information on Haiku poetry. I would have instructed you all in the 5/7/5 way it is taught in schools however that is not really correct. Please read below and have a look at the article by Sharon Dean and link to the Haiku society.

Article by Sharon Dean: http://ssoa.com.au/haiku-shakes-off-syllable-myth/

The haiku definition by the Haiku Society of America is a good read to gain an understanding of Haiku.

http://www.hsa-haiku.org/archives/HSA_Definitions_2004.html
HAIKU
Definition: A haiku is a short poem that uses imagistic language to convey the essence of an experience of nature or the season intuitively linked to the human condition.
Notes: Most haiku in English consist of three unrhymed lines of seventeen or fewer syllables, with the middle line longest, though today’s poets use a variety of line lengths and arrangements. In Japanese a typical haiku has seventeen “sounds” (on) arranged five, seven, and five. (Some translators of Japanese poetry have noted that about twelve syllables in English approximates the duration of seventeen Japanese on.) Traditional Japanese haiku include a “season word” (kigo), a word or phrase that helps identify the season of the experience recorded in the poem, and a “cutting word” (kireji), a sort of spoken punctuation that marks a pause or gives emphasis to one part of the poem. In English, season words are sometimes omitted, but the original focus on experience captured in clear images continues. The most common technique is juxtaposing two images or ideas (Japanese rensô). Punctuation, space, a line-break, or a grammatical break may substitute for a cutting word. Most haiku have no titles, and metaphors and similes are commonly avoided. (Haiku do sometimes have brief prefatory notes, usually specifying the setting or similar facts; metaphors and similes in the simple sense of these terms do sometimes occur, but not frequently. A discussion of what might be called “deep metaphor” or symbolism in haiku is beyond the range of a definition. Various kinds of “pseudohaiku” have also arisen in recent years; see the Notes to “senryu”, below, for a brief discussion.)
There are lots of examples of haiku and discussion on the Australian Haiku Society website

https://australianhaikusociety.org/

Here are four examples of Haiku from Vanessa:

 

harvest moon

the rattle of possums

on the roof

 

Friday afternoon

above the rush hour traffic

racing pigeons

 

 

summer heat

a lorikeet sips nectar

from the flame tree

 

 

summer twilight

kangaroos boxing

on the golf course

 

How about giving it a try?

Please Email poems to:

poemoftheday.jaxton@gmail.com

And today’s quote: