years ago, I was part of a big haiku experiment from a university in southern Japan. The internet was young and email was a new, but quickly catching on concept. This university set up a internet mailing group of aspiring Haiku writers from around the world. I was part of the group for about two years before the university finally shut the project down. I've kept in touch with a few of those fellow Haiku poets over the years, but I've never quite found another web group as mentally stimulating as that original one.

Personally I find that the whole process of creating a Haiku poem to be quite stimulating, but also relaxing. I don't know if anyone on here is interested in Haiku, but if so, let's start writing and commenting.

For those who do not know, Haiku is a Japanese style poem, traditionally formed of 3 lines of 5-7-5 syllables. The Japanese language is extremely expressive and subltle. Those few syllables can say mountains of information and feeling. English is unfortunately not so expressive, so creating a 5-7-5 poem is much more difficult. Some Haiku poets staunchly follow the traditional 5-7-5 framework in English, but recently a more "free-style" form of Haiku has become popular, which totally ignores the syllable restrictions, focusing more on the "flavor" of the words. A Haiku is often explained as a verbal "snapshot" in time. I believe that both the traditional and free form of Haiku are an excellent way to capture a particular sight, feeling, or emotion. Sometimes the exact meaning of a Haiku may be clear, sometimes not. Some Haiku masters consider the best poems to be ones with ambiguous meanings. Personally, I think it is all up to the person composing the poem.

Ok, enough talk, here's a traditonal style Haiku I wrote recently.

clicking here!!

in the still moonlight
her eyes, glittering like stars
breath hanging in air


Feel free to make comments, queries, and don't forget to share your own Haiku!