Writing poetry can be challenging and fun. It can be used to express your feelings or something that you find meaningful, beautiful, spiritual, or funny. You can write about how funny your dog is or what you saw on your camping trip. Sometimes people write about sad or dark scary thoughts or feelings. But have you ever heard of a Haiku poem? That is pronounced “hi-koo.” It is a very short poem that can make you think about life in a new and enlightening way.
Japanese poets began writing haikus many centuries ago. Hakus are a type of poem that originally expressed spirituality. The Japanese people wrote about Buddhism, their form of religion. Haikus can also describe something in nature like a thunderstorm or a beautiful meadow. A Japanese man named Basho is called the father of the haiku. He lived from 1644 to 1694. He took ancient types of haikus and made them more modern and easy to understand.
Writing haiku poetry is fun but sometimes challenging. They have a strict specific structure. They are 3 lines long with a total of 17 syllables. The first line has 5 syllables, the second line has 7 syllables, and the third line has 5 syllables. Remember: 5-7-5. The starting line usually sets up the poem and grabs your attention. The second line describes something. The third line ends the short poem with a thought-provoking sentence to make you think. Haikus are short poems but they have a powerful punch!
Though haiku's have been around for many centuries, and are traditionally about certain themes, there are no specific rules aside from the basic 5-7-5 syllable rules for each of the three lines. Try to capture an idea or theme in a haiku. Begin writing haikus about nature or spirituality. If you have trouble picturing what to write for a haiku take a walk in the woods or a meadow and write what you see. Sometimes looking at nature and scenery photographs will spark the imagination and give ideas for haikus. Looking through pictures in nature, camping or hunting magazines can give you some ideas. Writing about your religious beliefs or your spiritual experiences can make interesting and inspiring haikus. Write something that means something special to you that might also mean something special to the reader. If you have done that, you have written a haiku.
Rainbow
Beautiful rainbow
God’s covenant forever
From God’s fingertips
Home
Beams of sunlight seek
God among the fresh air shore
Showing the way home
Peace
Wooden bridge leading
To a beautiful forest
Peace waits beyond path.
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