PACE Global Haiku • PACE February 2010
Dr. Randy Brooks

Three Lines or Less Haiku

by
Luke Burket

When I first started writing Haiku I was in grade school. Back then it was the standard 5-7-5 syllable format that was expected. However, after taking Dr. Brooks’ class, Global Haiku Traditions at Millikin University, I have gained an expanded view on haiku.

Haiku is more than just the format of the poem. The language used must kept to a minimum. At the same time the reader must be able to bring their own feelings into the poem. So really, the act of writing becomes a balancing act; as a writer you want to elicit powerful emotions by going into great detail, but at the same time the more detailed the haiku the more likely that someone’s interpretation will be forced out.

For these reasons, the greatest haiku tend to be about nature or at least include some sort of seasonal reference. Almost every human being on this planet has to interact with nature at some point in their lives. The seasons are always a backdrop to the drama of our lives, and thus phrases like “spring rain” can elicit all sorts of emotions; most the author couldn’t have even envisioned when the haiku was written. The power of haiku is timelessness. It simply sets a scene and allows the reader to bring it into their contemporary life. Please enjoy my haiku collection, I know I had a great time writing them!

ladybugs crawl
on a white ceiling
a cat watches

Sunday Football
last pizza slice
Left alone

grey morning
the sly fox
sneaks back home

seeing his breath
the boy smokes
like Dad

three legged dog
lifts his stump
warm spring shower

Summer party
the barfly is 21
for another year

beer bottles
cooling in snow
Happy New Year!

dust cloud
the rusty pickup
along a gravel road

snowman
melting in the sun
his arms fall off