Haiku

People have spilled a lotta figurative blood over the exact definition of haiku. I don't care about all that. What I'm gonna explain here are what I understand to be the Japanese definition, and the rough definition I use for the haiku I've written.

The shared features

Haiku are short poems that often describe a single moment in plain language typically without explicit emotion, judgement, or metaphor, and depict two separate elements that complement and contrast each other.

The traditional definition

The haiku is a Japanese 3-part, moraic form with the parts consisting of 5/7/5 morae.

Haiku also include a kireji (often translated as “cutting word”), and a seasonal reference, often a kigo (often translated as “season word”) or the less prescriptive kidai (often translated as… “seasonal reference”). Kireji are actually morae (not necessarily words) that force a pause for breath. Kigo are words or terms selected from a saijiki, a regional almanac of seasonal terms including types of weather, plants and animals (or their behaviours), names of holidays, and features of the climate (e.g. “burning” or “hot” for summer).

The form was strictly codified in the late 19th and early 20th centuries based on an earlier, freer form called hokku. In fact, the term kigo was only coined in 1908. This codification has started to slip in recent decades, and there's debate in Japan over exactly how strict the form should be. At the same time, there's growing acknowledgement that several poets historically seen as masters of the form not only broke from tradition early and often, they also encouraged others to do the same.

My definition

As far as I can tell, this is basically the loosest common definition of haiku used by English-language poets (it's “my definition” in that I use it, not that I created it).

The haiku is a 3-line form. In English, the syllable count tends to be 10–15, 17 at most (due to the varying number of morae per syllable in English). The two parts are optionally divided by punctuation (e.g. an em dash, colon, or semicolon) or a line-end sound that doesn't easily run into the start of the next line. The haiku as a whole usually contains a seasonal reference, either directly or by implication.

There are many, many ideas about how haiku can be written. I think most end up as a mix of description and narrative of a moment/tableau.

Poems

  1. 2026-04-28

    a bluebell
flapping its wings
a butterfly

  2. 2026-04-16

    pigeons scatter
at the shadow
of a fellow

  3. 2026-01-25

    shadows of seafoam
encircle the diving bird—
vice versa its prey

    I could do better with this… though I do like the phrase “shadows of seafoam”. Also, “diving bird” was originally “cormorant”, but I wanted to make the action clearer.

  4. 2026-01-21

    through the new-moon rain,
the lights of the last black train
give shape to the land

    5–7–5 moraic haiku. It wasn't actually new moon, but pretty close. Alternatively, the last two lines could go “the lights of midnight trains / give shape to shadow”, but that's not the right number of morae (I also thought about ending that version “give shape to darkness”, which feels better but sounds worse).

  5. 2026-01-17

    sheeps' breath
rising from the mist
rising from the mud

  6. 2026-01-07

    trapped in ice
in the birdbath,
a paw of moss

    I happened on the phrase “a paw of moss” and used it to write this and a tetractys from the same day.

  7. 2026-01-06

    golden hour;
the day's snowfall
rises as mist

  8. 2026-01-06

    cresting the ridge—
the golden hour
lasts a minute longer

  9. 2026-01-04

    mud and ice
swallowing up
property line stones

  10. 2026-01-03

    dead of winter;
frigid snowberries
slip from the branch

  11. 2026-01-02

    on the sunken log,
blue with pre-dawn snow,
one robin sings

  12. 2026-01-02

    lilac
and marigold, too;
twilight on snow

  13. 2025-12-27

    winter solitude;
echoing unseen,
a firework

  14. 2025-12-27

    dusk
meeting
dawn frost

  15. 2025-12-24

    midday sunset;
darkness rises
up the valley

  16. 2025-12-24

    at the precipice
where wind falls into town
winter deepens

  17. 2025-12-21

    winter solstice
neither sun nor moon
join me outside

  18. 2025-12-17

    days with no sun;
light or dark clouds
fill the night sky

  19. 2025-12-09

    rain taps on the roof—
wind snaps the umbrella
and I am outside

    A 5/7/5 moraic haiku.

  20. 2025-12-08

    winter blossom
the colour of the sky
drifts in the dusk

  21. 2025-12-05

    first of December;
the day moon shines
brighter than the sun

    Kept this one in the pocket for a few days for some reason.

  22. 2025-12-04

    raindrops
from a dull winter day
shining in moonlight

  23. 2025-12-03

    wind, cold, rain—
each preceding
the others

  24. 2025-12-03

    moonlight
reveals a black cat
by his shadow

  25. 2025-12-03

    dark clouds
hiding bright clouds
hiding the moon

    At first I had the second and third lines as “concealing bright clouds / hiding the moon”, but I think the repetition—layers—works better here.

  26. 2025-12-03

    cold black clouds
show their colours
in the moonlight

    Same idea as a Kelly lune from the same day.

  27. 2025-12-01

    the lightest rain,
invisible in darkness
except as light

  28. 2025-11-30

    the silhouette
of the barren oak
shoulders stars

  29. 2025-11-30

    steadfast in the cold,
the veteran cat stands tall
half-inside the house

    At first I had this as “unflinching in the cold / the black cat stands tall / in the open doorway”, but I decided against it because 1) I felt like the colour of the cat matters less (even though it was my cat, who's all black) than the age/experience, 2) people can substitute whatever cat they feel like, and 3) I felt like doing a 5/7/5 moraic haiku for a change.

  30. 2025-11-30

    dusk horizon;
colours of the day
elsewhere

    “Dusk Horizon” is also the name of the music that plays in one of the first levels of the groundbreaking early FPS, Unreal.

  31. 2025-11-29

    red cloud-wall
vanishing into blue sky;
shining moon haze

  32. 2025-11-29

    before the flock
after the storm
a lone sparrow

    I thought about ordering this more spatially as “before the flock / a lone sparrow / after the storm”, but I think it flows better this way.

  33. 2025-11-25

    gust sweeping snow;
white winter rose
left behind

  34. 2025-11-24

    words slough
from the sunken sign:
Flood Warning

  35. 2025-11-24

    white hot breath
swelters the frost;
naked tarmac

  36. 2025-11-24

    lightless cloud;
something echoes
up the valley

    I came to this through “lightless cloud / something roaring / through the valley”, which I got to from “lightless cloud; / something roaring / overhead”.

  37. 2025-11-24

    dry and still inside,
yet the storm
shades each room

    More on the same theme as a Crapsey cinquain from the same day.

  38. 2025-11-23

    the lantern
completes the night;
moonless darkness

    Thought about ending this one “shadows swell and dance”, but it felt too explicit a personification. I ended up putting that idea in a haynaku written the same day.

  39. 2025-11-19

    the dying light
eases clinging snow
into the earth

  40. 2025-11-19

    river rises;
in the black water
fish peck at snow

  41. 2025-11-19

    gutted towers
devour the sky,
but stars spill through

  42. 2025-11-19

    cat's pawprints
appearing nowhere
but mud and snow

  43. 2025-11-19

    a smudge of sun—
birds feast on worms
in pure snowmelt

  44. 2025-11-14

    cold rain—
even the wind hides
in my jacket

  45. 2025-11-11

    snails and I
walking in the dark
slowly

  46. 2025-11-11

    grey clouds
straining, straining
to be seen

  47. 2025-11-11

    a spiderweb
sags under the weight
of success

  48. 2025-11-10

    in the blue hour,
gravestones and mourners—
no, just gravestones

    Thought about ending this “no, only stones”, but I feel like the repetition of the full word “gravestones” is clearer and works better? Also, I considered startin this with just “blue hour” instead of “in the blue hour”, but I think the latter has a sense of time and place, while the former only has a sense of time. Could also have ended the middle line with an ellipsis.

  49. 2025-11-09

    tiny snails
each dwarfing the next
summit the boot

  50. 2025-11-02

    evergreens
blacken the night sky;
white clouds of breath

  51. 2025-11-01

    hidden fireworks
shake the black windows;
laughter pierces rain

  52. 2025-10-15

    leaf and branch
reconciled
on the ground

  53. 2025-09-30

    the storm has passed
but rain still falls
beneath the trees

    The fourth and best version of this haiku.

  54. 2025-09-30

    clap-clap-clap!
scattering acorns
scatter crows

  55. 2025-08-17

    moss masks
oak-bark cracks
open wide

    Just messing around with verb/noun confusion.

  56. 2025-08-14

    dust and dew
reveal the spiderweb
through its ruin

  57. 2025-08-08

    moonlight
draws clouds
in the dark

    Based on a fragment from the same day. This is one of those haiku that could also be a haynaku.

  58. 2025-06-10

    blinding glare:
gives form to windows
hides shadows

  59. 2025-05-21

    board by board
year by year
the fence comes down

  60. 2025-05-17

    blackbird and I
equally shocked—
it landed on my hand

  61. 2025-05-14

    time
renames
the gravestones

  62. 2025-05-12

    bright sun
darkens
the stormfont

  63. 2025-05-10

    rising red
before dawn—
spider bite and I

  64. 2025-05-04

    bats peek
from under the eaves
of the unsold house

  65. 2025-05-02

    the wasp queen's din
rattles the window;
day moon

  66. 2025-04-30

    pearlblack beetles
marathon the road;
roadkill city burns

  67. 2025-04-29

    caterpillars flex;
sinewy beech bark
glints in the sun

  68. 2025-04-27

    formidable
serried pigeons
scatter with a glance

  69. 2025-04-27

    darkness pools
in the dry pond
leaf bones eddy

  70. 2025-04-23

    deer stream past
flowing through the trees;
a faun freezes

  71. 2025-04-19

    brilliant tar and moss
paint the tree stump
behind the bluebells

  72. 2025-04-19

    beneath the bulwark
a fox's bones
breathe in the breeze

  73. 2025-04-18

    funeral knells
collide overhead—
the rain hardens

  74. 2025-04-18

    clouds overwhelm;
elderflower blossom
turns the colour of sky

  75. 2025-04-16

    clouds shot through with light—
the entire sky
is the sun

  76. 2025-04-12

    the motorway darkens
the faces
in the cars

  77. 2025-04-10

    tenderly
carried on a twig
a wounded worm

  78. 2025-04-10

    stark shadows
crossing the field
to meet me

    At first I had the last line as “to greet me”, but I think “meet” is a bit more open-ended while still having at least one clear meaning.

  79. 2025-04-10

    snow blossom
melts from the trees
onto black earth

  80. 2025-04-09

    cold red lights
over the valley
dark houses

  81. 2025-04-09

    a lost fawn
behind the kuti
leaves snap

  82. 2025-04-08

    red brick
crumbles in my hand
freeze-thaw

  83. 2025-04-08

    patient bees
bumbling in line
first flower

  84. 2025-04-08

    old trees bend
holding, avoiding
empty air

  85. 2025-04-07

    screams in the woods
camp children at play—
gunshots

  86. 2025-04-07

    padlock and chain
on a gate I can climb—
the gate falls down

  87. 2025-04-07

    foil balloons
fallen from somewhere
HAPpy BIRthday

  88. 2025-04-07

    fallen fence posts
mark the old border;
who cares?

  89. 2025-04-07

    crisp morning
a ragged butterfly
dies in my hand

  90. 2025-04-06

    witch's broom
blanketed by snow;
delicate and coarse

  91. 2025-04-06

    on the first warm day
people pack the streets
a bicycle crash

  92. 2025-04-06

    kneeling in shade;
a cat circles me
smelling the town

  93. 2025-04-06

    fungal baubles
cling to dead wood;
the sky turns white

  94. 2025-04-06

    falling, growing
out of an empty sky
blue butterfly

  95. 2025-04-06

    dog and man
stand in the road
watching twilight

  96. 2025-04-05

    thirsty trails
suck down blood—
outlaw season

  97. 2025-04-05

    the night shrieks;
inside, soft darkness purrs
in my arms

    Really not sure whether to remove some of these words. Something like “night shrieks; / soft darkness purrs / in my arms” might work just as well.

  98. 2025-04-04

    stumbling
pries a heavy stone
from dry earth

  99. 2025-03-31

    a keening jet plane
silences the murmurs
of the day