What are haiku poems? The traditional structure of the classical Japanese poetic form known as haiku includes a personal observation, a concrete seasonal reference, a pivot word or turning point that introduces an insight/shock of awareness, and all in only three lines of text totaling 17 syllables.
I try to write a haiku poem every day. I recommend it! I call my poems 鈥渉ousehold haiku鈥 or 鈥渉omestead haiku鈥 because they record everyday occurrences as I go about my day.
Why Write a Haiku Poem?
What does writing haiku have to do with healthy, frugal living? Cheap therapy!
I started writing haiku a few years ago when I began developing haiku-writing workshops to help adults improve their writing. I suspected that regular haiku practice could help people write more succinctly and express more in fewer words.
I didn鈥檛 expect that maintaining a regular haiku practice would also deepen my powers of observation and concentration, boost my emotional resiliency, help me navigate life鈥檚 rough patches, and expand my self-awareness. But it has. Alongside some great natural remedies, haiku poems can be a wonderful stress reliever.
In the spirit of classical tradition, I don鈥檛 labor over my haiku. I create them spontaneously and swiftly, using ordinary concrete words to record a moment of concrete experience.
I don鈥檛 worry about making them 鈥済ood,鈥 either. Whatever emerges is good enough for my purposes.
My all-time favorite 鈥渉ousehold haiku,鈥 from the beloved classical Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), echoes my own relationship to housework.
Don’t worry, spiders,
I keep house
casually.
Robert Hass translation
This July day was spectacular and sparkling here in central New Hampshire. Here鈥檚 the haiku I wrote to mark the day:
summer鈥檚 bright magic
calls me out to play鈥攁las!
the dirty laundry
Haiku Poem Examples
Here are a few random haiku poems from my homestead haiku collection.
the way that white cat
savors spring’s first quackgrass鈥
we’re all weed-hungry
I plant beans and chard.
the fields around my garden
sow dandelions.
a colorful crowd
delirious with sunshine
zinnias arrive
shared a strawberry
with a slug. Gulp! wanted fruit,
not raw escargot
last strawberry lurks
under mulch; small, misshapen
no less delicious
big chunks of firewood鈥
no warmth from them without this
handful of splinters
don’t worry turkeys!
those hunters have their minds on
venison today
all the cost, the work!
holiday buffet tonight鈥
but now, the blizzard
that man walking by鈥
I can tell by his perfume
he stays warm with wood
up wind-scoured hillside
on my snowshoes: what a rush!
surfing wild, white seas
incessant snowfall
shovelers bent like willows
hoping we don鈥檛 snap
waking up in dark,
dark driving home; I’d really
like to hibernate
January thaw:
snowbanks melt, disgorge their loads:
fall campaign posters
they鈥檝e arrived: cluster flies,
lady beetles, seed bugs鈥
winter guests, Welcome!
this fall cover crop鈥
oats and peas鈥攍ooks sparse to me:
for toads, a jungle
You don鈥檛 have to be a writer, an aspiring writer, or even a poetry lover to reap the benefits of writing haiku. Give it a try! Then, summon the courage to share your haiku in the comments section below.
Haikus aren’t the only type of poem you can write鈥攚e just love them because they’re short and sweet but pack so much meaning. Robert Frost also wrote great poetry about gardening and the household, and you can read a taste of it here.
