This is a little bit that Troy Johnson and I unveiled for our radio show That Ain’t Right on 103.7 Free Fm. They’re basically movie reviews in Haiku form. It was Troy’s idea.
While there are several types of haiku, I’ve chosen to go with the English version of Japanese haiku. Here’s a little haiku brush-up:
1. Haiku is usually three lines of poetry. The first being five syllables long, then seven, then five again.
2. No rhyming.
3. There must be a “season” type word in the poem. Avoid using the season itself, rather, a word that is associated with it such as how toboggans are associated with winter. Nature words are also acceptable.
4. Avoid metaphors. Only the best of the best haiku poets know how to subtly use a metaphor in haiku. For the mediocre Haikuist (read: me), best to avoid them altogether.
5. The poems must be in the present tense since they are intended, primarily, to make us live in the now — a dying art to be certain.
6. It is permissible on occasion to use more or less than 3 lines and different syllable counts than 5-7-5 but there must always be less than 17 syllables in all.
