A)any collection of 17 syllables in three lines of five syllables, seven syllables and five again.
B)any poem that attempts to capture a moment's perception in as few words as possible.
A haiku isn't supposed to have a message, but if we choose to buy into the interconnectivity of all things (probably even if we don't) then it's an easy step from a moment's perception to some profound realization. The problem with profound realization is that the more profound it is, the harder it is to express, so we end up trying to get to it sideways, by describing something mundane, or even banal, hoping it contains the stuff of revalation. Sometimes it works (I think) and sometimes it fails miserably (at least for me).
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A haiku can be:
A)any collection of 17 syllables in three lines of five syllables, seven syllables and five again.
B)any poem that attempts to capture a moment's perception in as few words as possible.
A haiku isn't supposed to have a message, but if we choose to buy into the interconnectivity of all things (probably even if we don't) then it's an easy step from a moment's perception to some profound realization. The problem with profound realization is that the more profound it is, the harder it is to express, so we end up trying to get to it sideways, by describing something mundane, or even banal, hoping it contains the stuff of revalation. Sometimes it works (I think) and sometimes it fails miserably (at least for me).
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