Haiku

Haiku are weird things!

One form of poem I never really understood is the haiku, the Japanese poem form consisting of three lines. The three lines being 5, 7 and 5 syllables long respectively.

Having only really seen them in a joke or when written in class I was never really able to find any meaning in them.
I just assumed that the essence was lost in translation due to Japanese having a syllabary instead of an alphabet. That we just had it shoved in our faces by an intrigued but equally ignorant middle school teacher, or because it is a rather simple and short form to get your students interested.

Hot classroom experience -

Upon actually investigating what haiku are supposed to be like they have gained some appeal to me. It became apparent it's not so much that it was lost in translation as much as I was introduced to them incompletely. Although, it is just as likely that I just wasn't paying attention.

student enlightened.

As it turns out. Although common, haiku do not even necessarily following the 5-7-5 structure. But more interestingly.. In haiku you attempt to evoke a particular image, usually themed in nature. Normally using a specific word to affix a season to the poem. And finally an extra layer of meaning can be inferred from the author's state of mind, bleeding through into the reader's visualization.

If this sparks an interest, I recommend reading the article I gained my newfound understanding from.
Really I'm not intent on just regurgitating something said elsewhere much more clearly; this has just been an excuse to write a haiku :)