What is an Haiku, anyway? Perhaps the best way to describe it is by using the medium itself! Here are two attempts (by me):
Japanese Haiku:
a poetic distillate
of seventeen sounds.
Actually, although this is technically true to the rules, in that it has three lines, with a set or prescribed number of syllables or, more correctly, sounds, per line, to wit, five – seven – five, it’s not really haiku. The haiku is normally used to write about Nature (and not the author, or the modern world – they have other names) and gives a hint as to what season it is. The final line often holds a surprise. However, rules – particularly rules for any artistic endeavour, are made to be broken! The final line often holds a surprise. But, remember,
Counting syllables
and mentioning some cherry trees
won’t make it haiku!
But anyway, let’s not get too observant. As we say in Cork, “yerra, feck it!”