Good Examples of Haiku Poems

If you're looking for a good example of haiku poems and you want a more modern example, look no further! Sure, it's easy to find haiku examples of Basho, Issa, and Buson - the old Japanese masters. But what about what haiku poets are doing today? Here, for your reading pleasure are a few examples of modern haiku.

Haiku Example Poem #1

Hot June day --

an otter

slips into the sea

In this haiku by the author's book "Seashore Haiku," we have something that is a good example of a haiku poem and is modern in style. It's modern because it does not follow the 5-7-5 syllable rule invented by the Japanese. But it does retain the haiku sensibility. That is, it's a short poem about nature. It's descriptive and speaks in a present tense style. Broken down into it's component parts, this haiku consists of a fragment "Hot June day" and a phrase "an otter slips into the sea."

Haiku Example Poem #2

Fall afternoon --

the sound of a woodpecker

tapping

In this haiku poem example we have a snapshot of an event taking place sometime in Autumn. From the author's second book "Bird Haiku," this snapshot of nature takes the reader into a scene. In this instance, it's not what's observed but what is heard. Haiku are at their best when they take the reader into the picture. Here, we get the sense of being in the woods. We're not told where but we know that woodpeckers spend most of their time in the forest.

Haiku Example Poem #3

Dry gray branches

surround the robin...

winter thaw

In this haiku poem, also from "Bird Haiku," we have a different arrangement. Here the phrase comes before the fragment. The majority of haiku poems start with the fragment first. But we can also compose them phrase first. It's all about artistic sensibility - whatever sounds and reads the best to the person creating the haiku.

So here we have three examples of haiku poems that are modern in style.