Poem Work: How to Write Haiku

Haiku Syllables

For this poetry challenge, I wanted to learn how to write Haiku poetry. This type of poetry is structured in how it’s written. The most common form consists of a three-line stanza that has a total of 17 syllables, written with this pattern: Line One – 5 syllables, Line Two – 7 syllables and Line Three – 5 syllables.

I quickly realized that the first thing I had to do was remember how to count syllables again:~) I did what I used to do as a child, which is to tap my hand as I said the word. If I tapped once, the word had one syllable; twice it had two syllables, and so on.

Sometimes, this didn’t work so well. So, I did what any good blogger would do and went to visit Google. I found a syllable checker which allowed me to check my words for how many syllables were in them. Whatever did we do before Google?

Writing Haiku

For me, writing a Haiku poem was hard:~) As I started writing, I found that I couldn’t stop the poem at three lines. Before I knew it, I had written more verses.

While my poems all use the 5-7-5 Haiku structure, they aren’t true Haiku poetry, but rather my adaptation of it. I hope you enjoy them and forgive me for not being faithful to true meaning of Haiku poetry.

Coming Storm

Wind from storm picks up
Neighbor chimes sound like church bells
Birds fly home to trees

Old dog walks slowly
Thunder cries hurry inside
Too late; rain falls hard

Wet dog and scared me
Shake off the raindrops that fell
Pleased to be home safe.

Cycle of Life

Seeds sink into ground
Green bud raises flimsy stem
Flower opens in time

Dead flower falls down
Spreading seeds all over ground
Rain washes the seeds

Sun warms up wet floor
Tiny seeds couple with soil
Nature’s womb quickens

Life is a cycle
From planting seeds for flowers
To a baby’s cry

Lazy Cat

The lazy cat sleeps
Comfy in her double bed
Waiting to be fed

The lazy cat sleeps
Thunder booms loudly outside
Cat finds place to hide.

The scared cat must wait
Hidden away for storm to pass
No cat food alas

The scared cat comes out
Eats her fill, crunch, crunch, and then
The lazy cat sleeps

Closing thought: From now on, I’m going to include a section in these challenge posts about what I learned.

For this one, I learned that it’s important for me to have a beginning, middle and end with my writing. This is probably why story or narrative writing is my favorite.:~) Even so, I really enjoyed the structure and challenge of Haiku.

What about you?

How do you feel about Haiku poetry?

What’s your favorite kind of poetry?

Are you up for a dare? Can you write your comment in the Haiku style? More than three lines are allowed, but keep to the 5-7-5 structure.

Tagged as: haiku, haiku poetry, poem work, poetry