Get up and walk outside. Take a moment to look around. What little details do you notice right now, that you miss everyday because you are in a hurry rushing here or there? Find a special moment, feeling or image with in nature. Close your eyes and picture it. Think - how do you feel? What is important about this image - the details? Is there a secret or a surprising detail about the image? Does it have a story to tell?
Traditional Japanese Haiku poetry is composed of 17 units divided into three parts (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables). Japanese Haiku poets write their poems in one line; however, in English Haiku each part is written on a separate line. It is important to divide the three parts to allow the reader time to form an image in their mind.
An English Haiku looks like this:
Five Syllables
Seven Syllables
Five Syllables
Something to think about before you start writing, Haiku poems should include the following:
Focus on nature or a natural occurrence
Includes a seasonal word (like snow) that indicates what time of year it is
The poem should have a natural division: First part of the image, Second part of the image and Third the surprise relationship about the two parts
Haiku poets describe the details of the natural image that causes emotion rather than saying the actual emotion
Remember Sensory Language to help in writing a Haiku (smell, sight, hearing, touch, taste)
Start Writing:
Find an image of nature that inspires you.
Do not worry about counting syllables yet - just start writing.
Write the first two lines about your image of nature.
Write the third line with a surprise or intriguing point of view - it should be completely different from the first two lines.
Look over what you wrote. Does the combination of the lines create a visual in the readers mind that has a surprise ending?
Rewrite the poem in Haiku format (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables). Experiment with words that create imagery and enhance feeling.
Don't be afraid to try new ideas and perspectives. Read your Haiku aloud to yourself - how does it sound? Does it use sensory language and create a surprising moment?
November 29
Ridiculous:
another blizzard; the world
goes quietly white
December 18
Moonlight casts a pale
blue light on the snow, winter
perfect, cold and brisk
December 26
The bare limbs of the
trees shiver in the wind and
speak in semaphore
Source: de Lint, Charles (2002). Winter Haiku. retrieved online April 2012