Defining Haiku

thoughts and examples

"Haiku is simply noticing, noting, and recording moments that are happening around us all the time--moments that make us wake up

and see and appreciate the world around us more.We need to slow down, even for a few

minutes, with whatever is in our sphere."

Patricia Donegan

long walk —cherry petals stick

to the bottom of my shoes

Patricia Donegan

For me, haiku must be brief and image-centered, and devoid of overt metaphor or simile. Haiku should show what the

poet experienced that made him or her have a certain response, and if the poet has done a good job, the reader has a

similar response when reading the haiku.

Penny Harter

nightfall —the coolness of dirt

between toes

Penny Harter

To appreciate a garden, a haiku, or anything else in life, it is important to ease my grip on goals, to slow

down and take notice. Each haiku is an invitation to pause and take a look

around.Christopher Herold

first lighteverything in this room

was already here

Christopher Herold

Haiku poets, as all poets,should feel free to use the haiku in whatever way seems appropriate

to their creativity. There were never any rules, just fashions and

preferences. To be somewhere and write about it, that is what haiku is.

Edith Shiffert

In all directionssmall mountains hiding the

viewwhile being the view.

Edith Shiffert

Credits

All quotes and haiku excerpted from:

Brandi, John, and Dennis Maloney. The Unswept Path: Contemporary American Haiku. 1st ed. Buffalo, NY: White Pine Press, 2005.

This slideshow was conceived, created, and edited in 2008 by 

Shelley Krause(http://butwait.blogspot.com)