Haiku Conference Notes re HAIKU FORM - Line Gauthier's Blog

Last weekend I was at a national HAIKU conference. The parting words to us were “Now go out and be haiku activists and help widen awareness of what haiku really is”.  Though I have no intention of becoming a haiku police, I am committed to work on my own haiku skills and… share with anyone interested in listening.

Haiku is so popular yet so little is known about it. It reminds me of how ‘everyone’ thinks sushi is raw fish when in fact it is vinegared rice… yet people will argue with you ad nauseum. God bless those with more patience than I who finally do succeed at converting them!

But back to writing poetry, go where your muse takes you but… not every short poem is a haiku. If your poem has feelings similes, metaphors… Consider other forms such as: senryu, monoku, one-liner, tanka.

HAIKU-

FYI, here is an informal list of HAIKU GUIDELINES: -

1. OFTEN uses reference to 1 of the 5 seasons: spring, summer, fall, winter, new year,

2. OFTEN the ‘turn’ is on the second line (takes the reader in another direction),

3. NO unnecessary capitalization,

4. NO title,

5. NO unnecessary punctuation at end of lines,

6. NO use of abstract concepts (must be concrete),

7. NO personification,

8. NO unnecessary adjectives or adverbs,

9. NO full sentences: It’s a poem of few words with much left unsaid,

10. NO use of fantasy,

11. NO similes allowed,

12. NO explanation of haiku in last line,

13. NO heavy emotional words (should be felt not read),

14. MUST have a feeling of the present moment (NO past or future),

15. MUST be more than a description,

16. MAX 2 ideas (scenery + thought),

17. Rare use of I, you or we,

18. AND… there is no strict 5-7-5 syllable count – “haiku should be read in one breath” so there can be less syllables per line.

Quotes from Naomi Wakan’s HAIKU: one breath poetry  p.10 “The best haiku will often leave you pondering  some big thoughts, such as ”What does life mean?” and “Why am I here on earth?””, p.15 “Zen Buddhism connects small moments of life to the whole universe and so, like Taoism, its study is perfect for someone who wants to write haiku. It encourages a very simple lifestyle closely connected to nature and the seasons.” p.43 “To review, a haiku describes one event, is in the present tense and refers to an image(s) somehow connected to nature. A haiku is about something that the poet has noticed, heard, smelled, tasted or touched. The poet makes that moment, however small, a very important one.”  Haiku is about mindfulness. It comes from the senses, no puns, no fancy words. Write what you see not what you feel – give facts without emotion. A haiku should take your breath away, make you ponder and wonder, leave you asking questions. A detail in a moment can reveal some basic truth of the universe.

Unlike the Japanese haiku that often pay tribute to Mount Fuji or other famous places, we Canadians and Americans avoid to do so. Let’s start paying homage to our local sites, besides many have beautiful or even poetic names.

More will follow on the other topics discussed during the conference.

Line xx