Moonstone Poetry @ the Pub – Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street

HAIKU

Bring your Haiku to share with us!

What is Haiku?

Renowned for its small size and precise syllabic makeup, Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five moras (a unit of sound that determines syllable weight in some languages). Haiku typically contain a kigo (seasonal reference), and a kireji (cutting word). In Japanese, Haiku are traditionally printed in a single vertical line and tend to adopt aspects of nature as their subject matter, while Haiku in English often appear in three lines to parallel the three phrases of Japanese Haiku and may deal with any subject matter.

Haiku traditionally consist of five, seven, and five syllables, like this translation by Alan Watts of the Haiku master Basho:

The old pond

A frog jumps in:

Plop!

Steve Clark puts a hometown twist on this format, inventing the Philadelphia Haiku: two, one, and five syllables based on our area code:

Bread, Cheez-

Whiz,

Steak. Revolution!

What can you do with this? Show us your Haiku creativity!

Haiku enthusiasts Steve Clark, Hannah McDonald, and Scott Sigl: Expected Readers 

Larry Robin, Host, Open Reading Follows