DAY 17 ~ “Haiku Poem” for "30 Poems in 30 Days" #NationalPoetryMonth

OK, before you say, “Oh good, Haiku, I KNOW how to do that” and rush off – how about taking a few minutes to read what I have to say because I bet there may be a few things you might not know about it. At any rate, humor me for just a minute or two.

First off – there are TWO REASONS I chose to feature Haiku today ~ Day 17 of our “Month of Poetry.”

1^st: Today, April 17^th is actually “International Haiku Poetry Day”

2^nd: If you add up the syllables in all three lines, 5+7+5, it equals 17; hence today is the perfect day for us to write a HAIKU!! Cheers!!

Here is a link to a bit of history about Haiku if you are interested:

Almost everyone has probably heard of “Haiku” poetry. It’s a very popular form of Japanese poetry. I bet a lot of you have tried your hand at it already. Technically, there is Japanese Haiku and then, for our purposes, there is “English Language Haiku” (unless you happen to be fluent in Japanese).

Basically, use simple words. This is a compact form of poetry, yet usually very meaningful. Use your words to paint pictures in the reader’s mind.

Haiku poems are written about everyday things. They tend to be about nature, particularly about the seasons, but you can write one about other things as well; feelings, experiences, etc. 

~ IF you go with a nature theme, then the last line usually has a season word in it, but again ~ be creative and do it your way.

DID YOU KNOW? Haikus are supposed to ALWAYS be written in PRESENT TENSE!

Keep it simple. Try to capture a moment in time, scene, image from a specific time (using present tense) in just a few words.

It’s only three lines and we will be counting a precise number of syllables per line again. No rhyming needed for Haiku. There are a total of 17 syllables for the entire poem, following the pattern below:

Line 1: 5 syllables

Line 2: 7 syllables

Line 3: 5 syllables

You need to pay attention to the number of SYLLABLES, not

words. If you need to double check o how many syllables a 

word has, you can use this syllable counter:

https://www.howmanysyllables.com/

Here are a few examples:

Flowers, birds, and hope

In a colorful array

Spring bursts through my door

© 2017 Stephanie Abney

A ball of fire

Slips behind the horizon

A summer goodnight

© 2016 Stephanie Abney

A soft, gentle breeze

Tickles leaves in my front yard

And I know He’s there.

© 2011 Stephanie Abney

To my son, Brian

You are always in my heart

I feel you near me

© 2014 Stephanie Abney

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright for to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.