HAIKU is a Japanese form of short poetry. Born in the sixteenth century, it was popularized by poets Matsuo Basho, Yosa Buson, Kobayashi Issa, and Masaoki Shiki. Consisting of three short lines of often broken phrases, this Japanese art-form aims to share images, moments, and experiences with readers in order to move and inspire them, like this famous poem:
old pond:
frog jumps in,
the sound of water
– Matsuo Basho
The fundamental problem with writing haiku is the idea that writing three short lines is easy. This idea couldn’t be further from the truth. Haiku, though simple in its appearance, is a delicate art-form, and like all simple art-forms, it can be very difficult to tell whether one has created a strong, engaging, and memorable haiku piece.
This site is dedicated to helping beginning haiku poets not only learn how to write strong haiku, but how to avoid the pitfalls and mistakes that lead to bad haiku writing. The site describes the do's and don'ts of writing haiku, as well as starting techniques you can use to put the do’s into practice.
Lastly, this site features haiku from contributing poets (including me). If you are interested in having your haiku featured on this site, please contact me with your poem. Each poem will be judged by its application (or strategic violation) of the rules and techniques described here. If your poem is judged well, it will be published on this website.
Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoy your visit.