Thread: Haiku anyone?

Originally Posted by CoLd BlooDed

5 syllables,
7 syllables,
5 syllables.

This isn't true.

Originally Posted by quickest source I could find (wikipedia)

Syllables or "on" in haiku

In contrast to English verse which is typically characterized by meter, Japanese verse counts sound units (morae), known as "on". The word on is often translated as "syllable", but there are subtle differences between an "on" and an English-language "syllable". Traditional haiku consist of 17 on, in three metrical phrases of 5, 7, and 5 on respectively.

The word onji (音字; "sound symbol") is sometimes used in referring to Japanese sound units in English[5] although this word is archaic and no longer current in Japanese.[6] In Japanese, the on corresponds very closely to the kana character count (closely enough that moji (or "character symbol") is also sometimes used[6] as the count unit).

One on is counted for a short syllable, an additional one for an elongated vowel, diphthong, or doubled consonant, and one for an "n" at the end of a syllable. Thus, the word "haibun", though two syllables in English, is counted as four on in Japanese (ha-i-bu-n).

Most writers of literary haiku in English use about ten to fourteen syllables, with no formal pattern.

Contemporary English-language haiku

Today, haiku are written in many languages, but most poets outside of Japan are concentrated in the English-speaking countries.

It is impossible to single out any current style or format or subject matter as definitive. Some of the more common practices in English are:

* Use of three (or fewer) lines of 17 or fewer syllables;
* Use of a season word (kigo);
* Use of a cut (sometimes indicated by a punctuation mark) paralleling the Japanese use of kireji, to contrast and compare, implicitly, two events, images, or situations.

While traditional Japanese haiku has focused on nature and the place of humans in it, some modern haiku poets, both in Japan and the West, consider a broader range of subject matter suitable, including urban contexts. While pre-modern haiku avoided certain topics such as sex and overt violence, contemporary haiku sometimes deal with such themes.

The loosening of traditional standards has resulted in the term "haiku" being applied to brief English-language poems such as "mathemaku" and other kinds of pseudohaiku. Some sources claim that this is justified by the blurring of definitional boundaries in Japan

Television glow
Draws us like moths to the flame
burning with ennui

Tumultuous sleep;
wake feeling cloudy-headed.
Lackadaisical.

Hazy summer days,
existing translucently;
feeling quite ghost-y.

Mirrored in music;
Serenades from the long-dead
ghosts in stereo.

Originally Posted by acatalephobic

Tumultuous sleep;
wake feeling cloudy-headed.
Lackadaisical.

Hazy summer days,
existing translucently;
feeling quite ghost-y.

Mirrored in music;
Serenades from the long-dead
ghosts in stereo.

Aca is back. Grins.
Forever leaving, before
Now back, dream journaling

Tunes and art and sound
Simple and otherwise, Hah
Silly girl and boy

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

This isn't true.

I must have been referring to traditional Haiku. Still, that was two years ago. Thanks for correcting my past self.

Nice haiku, as well.

"thanks" says a new self
"for correcting my old self...
nice haiku, as well."

a glimmer of truth.
now, it's two more years ago...
still a good feeling.