What is Haiku?

according to http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/haiku "A Japanese poem of a specific form, consisting of three lines, the first and last consisting of five morae, and the second consisting of seven morae, usually with an emphasis on the season or a naturalistic theme; A three-line poem in any language, with five syllables in the first and last lines ..."

As I understand it, it's first line: 5 syllables, second line: 7 syllables and third line: 5 syllables again. As the definition above states, usually about nature or seasons.

I've never been one to follow recipes step by step. The same goes for Haiku. I've always liked writing my own style of poetry which I call Haiku but technically, depending on the particular poem I write, is NOT considered true Haiku. I write about nature and seasons but I also write "contemporary" poetry that is like Haiku. Here are a couple of examples of what I've written:

the sunset -

a wash of pink and orange

across the sky

Here, another one:

In the middle

of the night, the muse

awakens me

These are not considered Haiku. But I call them Haiku for myself and for simplicity, (rather than explain why it's not Haiku)

Now, here are some examples of true Haiku: ( first on by Basho, master of Haiku 1600-1868)

Autumn moonlight—
a worm digs silently
into the chestnut.

a poem by Issa, who lived from 1763-1827:

Don't worry, spiders

I keep house

casually

If you're paying attention, you'll notice the syllables aren't exactly correct in the English translation but keep in mind at the time they were written in Japenese which affected the form and number of syllables.

There is much more to learn about the art of writing Haiku, Tanka and Renga and I have found some links that may be helpful to you.

www.shadowpoetry.com

www.augustpoetry.org

www.poetrypreviews.com

www.haikuworld.org

I will continue to write "Haiku" and publish it here because it's fun for me and I realize it may not technically be considered Haiku, but I will call it that, like I mentioned before and I hope you will give it a try if you haven't already. It really makes you look around you and be more aware of your surroundings. I think it's good for the soul.

http://www.cranberrydesigns.com/poetry/haiku/history.htm

Read my other hub arout writing: Creative Writing Starters http://hubpages.com/hub/Creative-Writing-Starters

Who won Hubber of the Week for January 24th? Find out here: http://hubpages.com/hub/My-favorite-Hubber-of-the-Week-is

Read my poem, The Fight : http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Fight-a-poem