The most widely known thing about haiku is in error: Despite grade school definitions to the contrary, haiku can NOT be defined as-

"a 17 syllable nature poem written in 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables." Thats's like defining a Ferrari . . .

The most widely known thing about haiku is in error: Despite grade school definitions to the contrary, haiku can NOT be defined as-

"a 17 syllable nature poem written in 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables." Thats's like defining a Ferrari as a motor vehicle with four tires and a steering wheel.

It is much much more. The syllables and line and line count are incidental to the "haiku effect." We will explore haiku mechanics by taking them apart to look at the little gears and pullies that make them function. Lightness, transparency, word selection, techniques employed, and season element (if any) will be examined.

While you are welcome to post them here, 575 english language haiku largely went the way of the rotary phone. Since the 70's, the majority of haiku published in english language anthologies and journals are LESS than 17 syllables. While some good 575 haiku are still being written, they are the exception rather than the rule.

For our purposes, haiku will be defined as a brief poem of 17 syllables or LESS that uses literal, direct imagery to achieve its goals. Definition subject to modification.

Catch up with contemporary haiku techniques. Post your haiku, senryu, haiga, haibun, tanka, and linked forms as well as related questions and essays about same here. Participate in respectful critique. Share your reviews of genre related books.

Active participation is required. You do not have to be a skilled writer but you do have to post your haiku, questions, and opinions. This is not a spectator group.

"Rate" posts if you must, but it is of more benefit that we discuss the relative merits and weaknesses of the material rather than merely click on a rating number or say "nice!"

We will profit equally from great haiku as from problem haiku. It is every bit as instructive to discover what holds a haiku back as it is to admire what makes one work.

Who is it for? Contemporary english haiku poets or those who would become so. Anyone interested in crafting a resonating image that operates in as small a space as possible. Those who want to still the noise of modern life and articulate the truer world around and within them.

If getting your haiku published is a goal, we can work on it polishing it up as a group.