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Ideas in Creative Writing – Haiku Construction
Short, Sweet, and Structured – The Haiku is Wonderfully Expressive
Haiku is becoming increasingly popular amongst poets and readers alike. It is a simple form to learn yet a difficult one to master!
   
Haiku is probably one of the most well recognized structures of poetry in the modern era – primarily due to it's simplicity and intuitive nature. Haiku originated in Japan and is typically associated with nature, a change of seasons, and imagistic allusions – although in our postmodern world the haiku really ends up being a basic wireframe for understanding good metre and verse in a condensed fashion.

Breaking the 5-7-5 Mould
Haiku is traditionally constructed with three particular lines, the first with five syllables, the second seven, and the final verse also containing five. In the Japanese language these syllables are judged differently and as such an English language Haiku is often noticably longer than it's Japanse counterpart. Consider the following Haiku as written by an anonymous Kamikaze pilot before undertaking their suicidal mission.

If only we might fall

like cherry blossoms in the Spring

So pure and radiant!

While the form actually scans as 8-4-8 in English, the meaning is hardly lost by this deviation from the convention - as a matter of fact the inclusion of an organic reference as well as to a season, spring, shows an excellent understanding of the form as a whole by the author. It is a beautiful poem and very touching, a visual image that is breathtakingly astute in it's comparison. While the convention may be 5-7-5, most contemporary poets who write Haiku do not abide by these strictures. It is entirely up to you, as a matter of personal preference.

The Strengths of Haiku
Haiku is very good at conveying emotion, the first verse often introduces a hypothetical situation or asks the reader for a consideration of a concept or to intuit a solution to a problem. The second verse describes, concisely but poetically, the metaphor or the image to be reflected upon – and finally the last verse cements this comparison or provides a contextual question. As an example of this empathic connection, please consider the following poems :

his sister's funeral

trimming his hair

before he goes

(Patricia M. Benedict – Calgary, Alberta)

a whitetail flickers

into birch . . .

what time I have left

(Scott Mason – Chappaqua, New York)

Note that these poetic situations are often solitary, reflective, and personal – as is the haiku penned by the kamikaze pilot used for illustration earlier. The best haiku are written from personal experience, snatched moments from memory that are put to paper for other people to imagine. Faded photographs of a boisterous kitchen party years ago, ringing laughter of your childhood friends underneath the bleachers at the old ballfield, a night last month when you stood on the patio and looked up at the stars, the moon, and all of the cosmic players – these are all good material for a personal and touching haiku.

The aim of writing and reading haiku is to express and reflect upon your experiences, your love, thoughts, beliefs, passions, and pain. By reading the poetry of others you better understand the world around you and appreciate both a fresh perspective as well as a shared memory, an intimate connection with the author or the subject material.