A haiku is a Japanese form of poetry, which the English-speaking world has adapted and given the following rules
- it has seventeen syllables in three lines
- there are 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, 5 in the third
- it doesn’t need to rhyme
Here’s an example:
My favourite place?
Dead easy. It’s got to be
the Arboretum.
And here it is, divided into syllables:
My / fav / our /ite / place? (5)
Dead / eas / y. / It’s / got / to / be (7)
the / Ar / bor / e / tum. (5)
An alternative is the ‘one breath’ poem, where you don’t worry about counting the syllables, but the words of the poem can all be said in one breath. If you choose to do one of these, please make sure it’s still a three-line poem!
Have fun!! We look forward to receiving your poems.