HIKU the form - DEFINED

HAIKU is the ' phonetical&cultural original 'in Japanese'& in reality uses '17 'onji' (sound symbols)rather than syllables ,&traditionally written in Japanese as a single line whereas HIKU is the English language tristich (three line) version(including translations)with similar economy of words including the THOUGHT PAUSE prompt (often indicated by an ellipsis .....the SENSE PAUSE the aesthetic point of insight flowing from perception & ONE BREATH LENGTH to correspond to the aforementioned Japanesese 17 onji sounds. The essence without "telling all" (thereby to ' show ' conforming to the key of all true imagist poetry),&avoids 'as'&'to' & the use of past tense verbs (& is often without verbs,adverbs,adjectives )A verse freed from strict syllabic constraint within its triplicity of format& is inherently enigmatic & often with a caesura and surprise ending( VERSUM )to give a 'turning' to the line.The hiku maybe a horizontal single* line,(often broken at the caesura),a vertical line(usually a painting(haiga see note) ,a couplet** or a tristich*** *strand by strand decadence unravels moral fibre **a dew trail across the lawn... ' neath the shed winter quarters *** a blue plume rising from camp ashes- yesterday's visions still haunt NOTE :HAIGA can be seen @ haiga-ichthys.blogspot.com/