What is a Haiku?
The Haiku is a type of poem that originates from Japan. It is formed by 17 syllables that are divided in 3 verses consisting of 5 syllables, the second of 7 syllables and the last one of 5 syllables again. Historically, Haikus spoke of nature and natural phenomena, but Haikus can be written about any subject.
The Haiku comes from the “Hokku”, which means the introductory first part of the “Tanka”. The poet Matsuo Basho, considered the father of the Haiku refers to the haiku in the following way: “Haiku is simply what is happening in this place, at this moment”. In other words, the Haiku is a brief poetic form that describes a scene or an image, whether real or imaginary.
Haikus are sometimes criticized for not making sense as the only requirements for a Haiku are that there are 17 syllables split into a pattern of 5-7-5. A common joke is the Haiku “Haikus are easy / But sometimes they don’t make sense / Refrigerator. While this Haiku doesn’t necessarily make much literal sense, it does follow the 5-7-5 syllable rule.
