Article Surfing Archive

Everyone at one time or another has heard of or read haiku poems. This ancient Japanese art form has been around for a very long time. And with good reason!

It's a very beautiful and elegant poetic expression. With just a few words, the haiku poet can create a present moment - a snapshot of nature or an event taking place. No other poetry can do this with such economy, nor with such elegance!

To create haiku poems, you must understand what it is and how it is written today. No longer bound by the 5-7-5 syllable rule, modern haiku poetry uses something called phrase and fragments theory to create with. This is a lot simpler than it sounds. It just means that most haiku composed in the west uses a sentence fragment - usually something like "winter morning" to set the mood or ambiance.

This is followed by a more complete phrase. For example, with a fragment like "winter morning," we can use something specific' something present moment to complete this haiku:

winter morning --
ice crystals
hang off the pine

Notice how the phrase actually "completes" the fragment so to speak. They go together to create what some poets call an absolute metaphor. That's not important. What is important is learning how to create phrases for in this your success as a haiku poet rests. Creating phrases has everything to do with creating what haiku poet Ray Rasmussen has called "first order mind sense impressions."

That is, to create a present moment or an event about a present moment, you need to be able to write in the present moment. To practice this, it's a good idea to first read haiku you enjoy by others. Soak in their style and what they do. Then once you have an idea of the kind of things you want to write about, start writing your own haiku poems.