What's a haiku?

Haiku is Japanese verse in 17 syllables.

Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry consisting of three metric lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables—a total of 17. It was standardized as a form in 1892 by Masaoka Shiki.

Strictly speaking, the haiku should be divisible into two independent parts, with each section informing the other. The first or second line should end with a caesura, which represents a pause—usually a dash, ellipsis or colon. In addition, a kigo, or a word that connotes a specific season, should be included.

Images should be drawn from nature.

Haiku has a long history.

Haiku began in the fifteenth century with what is called hokku, the first verse of renga, a longer poetic form. The hokku established the tone and direction of the longer composition. This opening verse used the 5-7-5 syllable structure. Various schools of hokku flourished from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries.

In the nineteenth century, Shiki, a writer who admired Western culture and particularly liked European plein air painting, felt he could express that style in words in what became what we now know as haiku.

Some say haiku has gone to hell in a hand basket.

Modern haiku has slipped the bonds of traditional form. Once, there were dozens of rules for its construction. Never use the three lines to make a complete sentence. Don't use personal pronouns. Incorporate paradox. Put all words in lower case. Now, anything goes.

Haikus for Healing has opted for this more free-form variety of modern haiku as a way to express simple, supportive sentiment and encouragement for times when the weight of the situation normally makes words fail.

We offer haikus you can use in distinctive greeting cards.

For more detailed, erudite exposition of haiku, please refer to HAIKU for PEOPLE, www.toyomasu.com and Haiku Society, www.haikusociety.com.

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