Haiku
A haiku is a Japanese poem with seventeen syllables.
It is split into three lines.
The first line has five syllables
The second has seven
The third has five.
The haiku originated in the fourteenth century.
It is the most popular Japanese poem.
Haiku poets employ renso, or assocition of ideas by referring to seasons
and the various manifestations of nature (summer breeze, plum blossoms, autumn
moon).
Haiku are often arranged to the progression of seasons, although they do not
have to be.
An example of a haiku, written by a Basho is: (In Japanese)
Shiukasa ya,
iwa ni shimi-iru
semi no koe.
(In English)
The stillness of a summer day!
It pierces even the rocks-
The locust cry.
An example of a haiku written by Paul Mena is:
through the fingerprints
on my window-
cloudless blue sky.
Poems Available At www.toyomaso.com