Breaking Haiku

Some rules and how to bend them (with footnotes!)

Hello, Soldiers of Love!

Make sure the coast is clear and sneak out the back—we’re about to misbehave (poetically speaking).

swaying daffodils
planted by long dead farmer
outlast house and barn

Breaking Haiku

In haiku, there are several rules you must follow to write a proper poem. I’ve always had a rough relationship with rules and authority. However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that the best way to annoy the powers-that-be is to have a sound understanding of the rules and then break them for effect. Pendants hate that.

Here are some of the keys rules for writing haiku:

• A poem should have 17 syllables¹, divided into three lines of 5-7-5

• A haiku should be read with one breath

• Haiku do not rhyme²

• A haiku should contain a season word (kigo)

• A haiku should focus on nature

• A haiku needs a cutting word/line (kireji)³

• The poem should evoke a feeling of wabi-sabi⁴

• A haiku should be written in the present tense

When writing a haiku in English, many great poets disregard the first rule out of hand. Haiku in Japanese are spoken in a single breath. English doesn’t work quite like that. While English 17-syllable haiku are brief for poems, it’s hard to get all that out in one breath.

When writing English language haiku, many poets decide to focus on the idea of a poem in a single breath and the other rules instead of the syllable rule.

I like to stick with the 17-syllables and disregard the notion of writing a poem that can be read in a single breath.

The moment you write your first haiku you must become a rule breaker. You must either choose the single breath or the syllables route. In English, it’s almost impossible to do both.

There are no real authorities that can dictate how you write a poem. The key is sticking to a general form that people recognize. Within that form, you can do almost anything. Another reason I love the 5-7-5 poem is that it’s universally recognized as a haiku. You can safely ignore almost every other rule and still have people understand what you’re trying to do.

I write a lot of poems that have nothing to do with nature or season words, two of the most important haiku rules. I have a book of pirate haiku and a book of horror haiku. However, in my non-nature poems, I work hard to use the 5-7-5 format, have a cutting word, and have a sense of wabi-sabi. You’ll have to judge for yourself whether or not I was successful in my efforts.

If you break all the rules, your rule-breaking loses its value. You are less likely to do something interesting. Instead, you stumble around in chaos.

For the haiku comics in this newsletter, I usually write about nature, use a kigo, and work on expressing wabi-sabi. My haiku comics usually don’t rhyme, and most of them are in the present tense. I’m less consistent with using a cutting word. But, they are all 5-7-5 poems.

However, if you look at today’s haiku you’ll notice I use the past tense in the second line. I also use this line as a cutting line. I change direction from the daffodils to focus on the long-gone farmer. I made this choice to enhance the wabi-sabi of the poem. While daffodils can be considered a spring kigo, this poem’s focus is less on nature and more on time and decay⁵.

Rule-breaking is most effective when done with precision and purpose.

The more haiku you write, the more opportunities you have to play with words and the rules around their usage. As you gain more experience, you also start to develop your own style and haiku philosophy⁶.

The only reasons to ever write any poem, haiku or otherwise, is to try and figure out how you feel about something or to attempt to help others to feel something. Experimenting with rule-breaking is often the best way to unearth those feelings.

Go out and write some haiku! Break some rules! I promise it will make your life at least 1% better.

Artist Note

This haiku and comic were inspired by the history of our home. Before our house was built, on the same property but in a different spot, there was a barn and farm home belonging to the people who originally owned the entire hill and hollow that is now home to five houses. The farmers parceled the land and sold it. The lot where we live was the last to be developed. The house and barn were torn down so our house could be built because the county would not allow two houses, even though the farmhouse was not habitable, to be on the same lot. It was sad seeing the old buildings come down. But, every spring we still see yellow daffodils the farm family planted who knows how long ago. The farm couple moved away and retired to a life of cruises and sun more than 30 years ago. They have both passed away now.

Please let me know what you thought of today’s haiku essay. Instead of waiting on my white whale of a haiku super-essay, I’ve decided to tackle smaller topics. This way I can share things more often, and it helps me process my thoughts in a way that will make writing a short book about haiku easier.

Be the haiku you want to see in the world!

Cheers,

Jason

P.S. Yesterday, Lisa Kuznak wrote this note:

In response to her request for covers that outshone the originals, I mentioned the Soup Dragons cover of the Rolling Stones song. I’m Free. While writing this post I thought of another great one. Pearl Jam’s Soldier of Love (Lay Down Your Arms) is a cover of a 1962 song originally recorded by soul legend Arthur Alexander. The song has a fascinating history. (Donny Osmond also has a song called Soldier of Love, which is not related to this tune. It’s a good song, but nowhere near as good as the Lay Down Your Arms song. The Donny Osmond song also has a cool backstory.)

Here is the Peral Jam version of Soldier of Love (Lay Down Your Arms):

1. Many people prefer to use the Japanese word on when discussing Japanese syllables. They argue that an on is not quite the same as an English syllable. I defer to the master translator and former president of the Haiku Society of America, Hiroaki Sato. In his excellent book, On Haiku, Sato notes that on is properly translated as syllable.

2. I’m fond of experimenting with rhymes in haiku. It’s challenging to get a rhythm that feels right while also sticking to the 5-7-5 format and the other “rules”. I’ll share a few of these rhyming haiku once I get a little better at writing them.

3. A cutting word is a word or phrase that turns the meaning of the poem. It’s a little like the surprise twist at the end of a short story. A cutting word takes the poem in an unexpected direction.

4. Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic often associated with the art of the formal tea ceremony. In haiku, the idea of wabi-sabi means evoking a sense of love or appreciation for the beauty of imperfection or impermanence. It also is tied to thoughtful solitude. Wabi-sabi is complicated and often is a concept where you know it when you see it. Anne Walther has an excellent essay about what wabi-sabi means that you should read if you want to go deeper into the philosophy of haiku.

5. We could have a philosophical discussion as to what nature means. I would argue that humans are a part of nature and a good subject for haiku. Time is a human construct, and decay is a natural law. These should also qualify as nature subjects. But that’s a discussion for another essay.

6. If this essay doesn’t bore you, my future one about my haiku philosophy surely will.