Monday 14 May 2012

Haikus, poems that surprise

At its simplest, a haiku is a Japanese verse 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables on nature or one of the 4 seasons. But haikus are defined many ways, e.g.,
I've written haikus for years now. An early example:

Campground ©1991 Peter A. Letendre
A blush of colour
washes clean upon a lake
dirty with acid.
Ideally, a haiku should create a surprise, a contrast between juxtaposed ideas.

Haikus are not to everyone's taste but I love their simplicity.