For people that are new to the genre, knowing exactly what it is is very important. I read in a book about Haiku that Haiku is a form of poetry used to share emotions with others through descriptions of single moments in time.

But what do other people think? What are Haiku?

In the more traditional sense, to the Japanese it was a very important and serious topical form. Wherein there was one word, the kigo, that summed up the content of the story, which was most often the "season" of the piece.

In the more contemporary English forms, the topical constraints are much looser with it normally just having the form constraints of the five, seven, five syllable lines.

I never understood the meaning or something... What with my favorite Haiku written by me being a hick family picking up a dead cow that was hit by a car. It was frozen=winter.

Besides, the normal themes usually bore me for some reason. I have nothing against it, it just does me no good.

However, it is a pretty interesting way to challenge your mind.

Try making a pleiadic for example, it's so difficult to keep the repetition interesting and to keep it in iambic pentameter.

x/ Dark Snow Angel /x

My prefered japanese syllable-counting form is the Tanka. You get the structure and imagery of Haiku, with more chance at social commentary.

~Bitter Irony

I'm severely proud of my haikus but that's also because I hone them down until I think they're perfect (and yes I'm being arrogant, sorry :p).

that's all...?

I think each line needs to bring a new level to the piece, not just be part of a sentence that wouldn't make sense without the whole.

But maybe that's just me being picky.

I knew about the form, but never knew how to write it, or what it is actually trying to put across. Haiku is a japanese form of poetry that enhances your sense perceptions. It pretty much enhances them, so when you read one, depending on which sense the haiku is outlining, that sense becomes more stronger because of the amount of imagery in such a few words. The typical form is the 5, 7, 5.

but yeah, a specific point in time or emotion or experience is a good way to put it, given the briefness of haikus, you cant put much more in(unless your awesome), but they also can give much more in multiple depths of meaning. a favorite form of writing for me.

I've written a couple before.

Um... I guess, to me, Haiku is technically a poem that follows that 5,7,5 or whatever rule. It's also, when well done, capable of making a pretty good, strong statement and make you think without making words.

It's also extremely fun to make fun of, according to the comics.

I dunno, maybe it'd be more appealing if you were from wherever the form originated. I know dad was talking about how Japanese films tend ot use a lot of symbolism, so an american will be sitting there going "wtf? It's just a flower..." and someone more familiar with it might say "No... it means this and this and this"

Mouse ran up a tree,

The tree hid in the shadows,

Of a very thick grove,

that didn't make a lot of meaning out, but it was yet a picture painted and also a little story.

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