Haiku Exercise 2: brief 3-line nature poem with two juxtaposed images and '5-7-5' syllables

The Haiku Seasons: Poetry of the Natural World by William J. Higginson. A classic introduction to Haiku. Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart (2008) by Patricia Donegan. 108 remarkable haiku by Japanese and Western poets, with small essays to show how such brief poems can show us how we can approach our lives.

Haiku exercises from a Poetry Seminar
given at UCSC November 2009 by J. Zimmerman

Goal of this set of exercises:

• Write at least THREE haiku-like poems through three exercises:
  • Exercise 1: brief 3-line nature poem with two juxtaposed images.
  • Exercise 2: brief 3-line nature poem with two juxtaposed images using '5-7-5' syllable count.
  • Exercise 3: brief 3-line senryu: the 'human nature' poem.
• Learn and apply THREE core attributes of a "classical" haiku.
  • Exercise 1 notes; comments and books on writing haiku.
  • Exercise 2 notes; comments and books on the history of haiku.
  • Exercise 3 notes; comments and timeline on the history of haiku.
• Explore history of linked verse and the rise of haiku and senryu.
• Share resources: books, journals, web sites, places to submit work.

Exercise 2: brief 3-line nature poem
with two juxtaposed images and '5-7-5' syllable

Your second poem will use the THREE core attributes of a "classical" haiku):

• A "kigo" (season word(s)) of your choice: let's limit it to an autumn "kigo".
• Juxtaposed nature images.
• '5-7-5' syllables.

In Haiku Exercise 1, you were given the kigo image. Here, let's begin by developing your own kigo image:

• Pick an autumn kigo. Some possibilities are:
  • falling leaves
  • moon
  • scarecrow
  • chestnuts
  • migrating geese
  • chrysanthemum
  • persimmon
• Add word(s) to the kigo so you have 5 syllables for the first line. For example:
  • wind-torn walnut leaves
  • a scarecrow's top hat
• Although '5-7-5 syllables' is roughly twice as long as the '5-7-5 morae' formal pattern of classical haiku, we use syllables in this exercise to get a sense of how this pattern feels.

Once you've established your kigo image with 5 syllables:

• Think of an emotion that comes up.
• Think of another nature image that makes you aware of that emotion.
• Write your new image in a couple of lines, using 7 and 5 syllables, to complete your 5-7-5 haiku.
• Simply juxtapose your two images (one image in one line and the other in two lines); optionally separate the images by em-dash, ellipsis, etc.

Extra practice with syllables:

• Write various autumn images from nature in 5 syllables on small cards.
• Write various images from nature in 12 (7 plus 5) syllables on small cards.
• Mix each set of cards.
• Pick one card at random from each set. Contemplate whether the two images work well together, or are too similar (the gap is too small), or are too far apart (the gap is too large).

Extra practice with morae:

• Count an English short vowel (such as "i" and "e" in "little") as one mora each.
• Count an English long vowel (such as "oo" in "moon") as two morae.

Thus, the extra practice with morae is:

• Write various images from nature in 5 morae on small cards.
• Write various images from nature in 12 (7 plus 5) morae on small cards.
• Mix each set of cards.
• Pick one card at random from each set. Contemplate whether the two images work well together, or are too similar (the gap is too small), or are too far apart (the gap is too large).

Jump-start your poetry with ideas from our writing exercises.

Other exercises: Index. "Alien". Haiku. Spell casting. Write a poem like Billy Collins.

Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands-On Guide (2003) by Jane Reichhold, whose many skills include a keen sense for the writing and appreciation of haiku. This book includes useful guidelines on writing haiku and related forms. In the Palm of Your Hand, Steve Kowit. Highly recommended. Brimming with clear and practical exercises, Kowit's book is the best 'How to' book to help you start writing poetry. My favorite chapter is about Awful Poems, where Kowit leads us cheerily through the frequent mistakes that appear in our poems, with exercises to correct them. The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms, Edited by Mark Strand and Eavan Boland.

Books of Poetry Form. Highlights of Poetry. Index of poetry. How to Write Your Poetry. How to Listen to Poetry. Recommended books on Reading Poetry.

Log of books read.

Poetry exercises with poetry forms: Forms of skaldic verse. Haibun. Haiku. Hay(na)ku. Rengay. Tanka. Concrete. Ghazal. Lai. Pantoum. Rondeau. Rubáiyát. Sestina. Sonnet. Terza rima. Triolet. Tritina. Villanelle.

Other poets: Billy Collins and exercise. Franz Wright. J. Zimmerman. J. Zimmerman (haiku). J. Zimmerman (tanka). Jack Gilbert. Jorie Graham. Karen Braucher. Len Anderson. Li-Young Lee. Linda Pastan. Nordic Skalds. Richard Hugo's Triggering Town. W.S. Merwin. Adam Zagajewski.

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