Something that I’ve always found confusing is haikus. I’ve never fully understood how Haikus work. At first I thought that they had to rhyme and that it had to be one constant flowing idea. However there have been many times where I’ve come across poetry that is written in the form of a Haiku and has random words in it, random words that do not rhyme and do not make any sense when placed in the same tiny poem. My question was basically how do haikus work?
So a haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that consists of 17 syllables in three phrases of 5, then 7, then 5. Haikus typically contain seasonal references. An easy way to point out a haiku? It consists of three lines, although the Japanese style would only consist of one. Haiku poets also focus more on showing their readers rather than telling them; they like for their poems to be expressed in one breath.
The one thing that I have always noticed about haikus is that they are short; very, very short. I actually wonder why poets choose this form of poetry. I mean if they are so concerned with showing their readers a poem, shouldn’t they technically make their poems longer so as to do this more accurately? Also I’m still somewhat confused when it comes to haikus so I definitely plan on reading some more and getting a better grasp of their concept and figuring out why poets choose this particular form of poetry above others.
An example of a haiku I found and liked is:
I am nobody:
A red sinking autumn sun
Took my name away.
- Richard Wright
