3 Years of Writing and Publishing Haiku: What I Learned

It’s been more than five years since I first published a haiku and about four years since I started writing haiku.

What began as a fun activity gradually turned into a meditative practice I do every morning. After writing for fun, getting published became a goal. Now my haiku can be found in more than 20 magazines in the US and UK.

Photo by nguyendinhson067 from pixabay

This is not to talk about publications or how to get published but to describe what haiku is, where it began, and what haiku is today.

What is haiku?

Due to many debating on what haiku is, it’s necessary to first explain a short history of the haiku poem.

Haiku first started in 13th century Japan. A short introductory poem to the renga poem was called hokku. A renga was a hundred stanzas long that was composed syllabically and spoken orally. The renga was composed collaboratively but a hokku was written by a single person.

In the 17th century, Bashō, his birth name Matsuo Kinsaku (1644-1694), began to write hokku but without a long renga poem after it.

This hokku poem is now called haiku. However, if Japanese haiku were translated strictly into English, it’d be a single line poem, called monoku, which some haiku writers today choose to follow in form. It took around 300 years for the hokku to branch off from the long renga poem.

About 300 years later, haiku poetry still retains its essence. With its beginning in 13th century Japan, this nearly 400-year-old poetry form is unusual for lasting this long in popularity.

Although, since early 1900s, the haiku has slightly changed. In many haiku magazines today, many prominent haiku writers do not follow a 5-7-5 syllabic pattern.

Although we are mistakenly taught in school that the form is 5-7-5 in syllables, this is a myth. The original Japanese haiku writers counted sounds in the form of on, not syllables.

This means that 12 syllables is equal to 17 on. The word haiku counts as two syllables but three on (ha-i-ku), even though you don’t say it that way.

However, English-speaking haiku writers over the centuries do keep the essence of the poem. A haiku typically involves the following:

• depicts an image

• written in present tense

• composed in three lines

• uses simple language

• uses a ‘cutting word’ that ‘cuts’ the poem in two parts

• references a season (‘kigo’ is a seasonal word or phrase)

• 17 syllables or less

Also, succinctness is more important than strict syllabic form. You will find that haiku masters sometimes deviated from strict form.

In the below poem, Bashō is following the traditional 5-7-5 on (in its original Japanese poem), yet the poem is eight syllables in the English translation:

fu-ru-i-ke ya (5)

ka-wa-zu to-bi-ko-mu (7)

mi-zu-no-o-to (5)

old pond (2)

frog leaps in (3)

water’s sound (3)

It’s difficult to translate poems correctly; some may say it’s impossible. In my writing, I try to keep the essence of the haiku alive, since counting syllables becomes a bit silly after doing it for thousands of poems.

Besides Bashō, other masters of haiku are Yosa Buson (1716–1784), Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) and Kobayashi Issa (1763–1828). Along with Bashō, these are the four major haiku poets that are still studied today.

It’s not the words that matter the most but the feeling and image they evoke in the reader. Even with simple language, haiku can be powerful poetry. Like the best poetry, if it’s written from the heart, the effect will be strong.

About my own haiku:

The playfulness of Issa is a big inspiration on my haiku. There is a mysticism that flows through some of my poetry. Regardless, I hope my poetry illuminates something in the reader: calm, love, curiosity, wonder, or maybe an awakening.

Here are three haiku of mine that I like:

so fragile
are the beautiful things
withered flowers

the world is absurd
but I still cling to its flowers
like a bee drunk on spring

caught
between two worlds
an owl at sunset

It’s not the words that matter the most but the feeling they evoke in the reader. With simple language, the haiku can be a powerful poem if the right words are chosen. Like the best poetry, if it’s written from the heart, the effect will be strong.

You can find many of my haiku in my book, Windswept Leaves, found in most online bookstores.