National Haiku Poetry Day

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Meant to celebrate the love of the Japanese poetry genre, National Haiku Poetry Day is also a time to spread love and laughter. Your poems may express love, reflect on nature, or really, just about anything.

Learn more about the day and expand your knowledge of the haiku by reading on.

When is National Haiku Poetry Day?

National Haiku Poetry Day is celebrated on April 17 each year.

FAQs

Are you planning to write a Haiku poem yourself? Well, you might want to read these FAQs first.

When was Haiku Poetry Day started?

Registered in 2007 by Sari Grandstaff, celebrating the Japanese poetry type is supported by the Haiku Foundation and has been celebrated every year since 2012.

What rules are there for a Haiku poem?

There are various rules for writing a Haiku. Firstly, it can only be of three lines with five syllables in the first, seven in the second, and then five syllables in the last. It can include repetition of words or sounds, does not need to rhyme, and the punctuation and the capitalization are up to the poet.

How to write an effective Haiku poem?

To have a fabulous piece of Haiku, you’ll first need to read some examples, like the ones below. Once done, you should decide on a topic or subject and, if possible, experience it.

Now, think of the emotions and feelings you want to include and make a list, trying to be as descriptive as possible. After this, begin by explaining your topic in the first two lines before giving an evaluation in the last.

What are good examples of traditional and modern Haiku?

While most rules have stayed the same, there are visible differences between traditional and modern Haikus. Take a look at the examples below to understand these better.

Traditional Haiku Example

The season gives way.
Winter lays down her mantle.
As spring bursts to life.

Modern Haiku Example:

Giant, foul-smelling shadow.
Smashing through the forest.
Sasquatch is on the move.

How to Write a Haiku Video

Fun Facts

Haiku has significantly been influenced by Zen meditation to ponder both inward spirituality and the world around.

Unlike the modern English Haiku, the Japanese Haikus have way stricter rules to be followed.

Haikus is among the most minimalist types of poetry, with nearly no similes, metaphors, or other literary devices. Instead, because of how short they are, each word is chosen carefully and holds meaning. These do, however, contain some imagery and are meant to create a sensual experience.

Haikus, unlike most other types, are extremely deep and say a lot in very few words.

Funny Haiku Poems

I have been trying
To write a haiku for you.
Some things I just can’t do!

You never feed me.
Perhaps I’ll sleep on your face.
That will sure show you.

Ask for opinions.
Mull it over. Then you can.
Just do what you want.

Hippopotamus,
Anti-hippopotamus,
Annihilation.

Fat man sees small door,
he knows he cannot fit through,
tears flow free now.

Wanna go outside.
Oh NO! Help! I got outside!
Let me back inside!

When life shuts a door,
Just open it. It’s a door.
That is how doors work.

Space is limited
In a haiku, so it’s hard
To finish what you…

Company coming?
And your house is a big mess?
Just put on lipstick.

I like kittens, YEAH!
They are really fluffy, YEAH!
OMG KITTENS.

Entertaining Haiku Poetry

I sat on the pin.
It did not give me a grin.
Buy some marmalade.

My zipper is down,
No one has told me all day.
Who are my real friends?

The sky is blue,
The grass is green.
Jetfuel can’t melt, steel beams.

I think haikus suck.
Has to be five seven five.
Who came up with this?

Wolf in sheep’s clothing
Meets a sheep in wolf’s clothing.
Confusion abounds.

I knew this gambler;
He bet it all on a bluff.
He is now homeless.

I shed my old skin.
It’s not some deep metaphor,
I just have sunburn.

My breakfast today,
bacon, eggs, and ice water.
I feel so healthy.

You want a poem?
Best I can do is Haiku,
Take it or leave it.

World is vast and wide.
So much out there to explore.
Right now, let’s eat lunch.

The mathematician,
Plotting his past relations;
“ex” and “why” axis.

My bunny is fat.
He loves to eat cabbage.
No wonder he’s fat.

Haiku Poems to Help Celebrate the Day

A world of dew,
And within every dewdrop
A world of struggle.
Kobayashi Issa

I want to sleep,
Swat the flies.
Softly, please.
Masaoka Shiki

From time to time,
The clouds give rest
To the moon-beholders.
Matsuo Bashō

Picking autumn plums
My wrinkled hands
Once again grow fragrant
Michael R. Burch

The taste
Of rain
—Why kneel?
Jack Kerouac

He crow has flown away:
Swaying in the evening sun,
A leafless tree.
Natsume Soseki

Nightfall,
Too dark to read the page.
Too cold.
Jack Kerouac

First autumn morning.
The mirror I stare into
Shows my father’s face.
Murakami Kijo

The hushed sound
of the scarecrow falling
gently to the ground!
Michael R. Burch

My life, –
How much more of it remains?
The night is brief.
Masaoka Shiki

The crow has flown away:
swaying in the evening sun,
a leafless tree.
Unknown

Childhood innocence;
Playing store under the swings.
Colorless children.
John G. Lawless

Love between us is
Speech and breath. Loving you is
A long river running.
Sonia Sanchez

Explosion!
The frog returns
To its lily pad.
Michael R. Burch

Haiku Quotes

I guess Haiku is an inspiration for me. Everyday, simple moments.
Misha Collins

Haiku is not a shriek, a howl, a sigh, or a yawn; rather, it is a deep breath of life.
Santōka Taneda

Haiku is a way of culling things from the stream of things that rush past the senses.
Michael J. Rosen

A Haiku is just like a normal American poem, except that it doesn’t rhyme and it’s totally stupid.
Trey and Matt Stone Parker

The Haiku reproduces the designating gesture of the child pointing at whatever it is merely saying: that!
Roland Barthes

The Haiku that reveals seventy to eighty percent of its subject is good. Those that reveal fifty to sixty percent, we never tire of.
Matsuo Basho

Haiku is a snapshot in time. no veils, no mystery—it is exactly as it reads.
Mestre

Haiku is an art that seems dedicated to making people pay attention to the preciousness and particularity of every moment of existence. I think that poetry can do that.
Robert Hass

He who creates three to five haiku poems during a lifetime is a haiku poet. He who attains to complete ten is a master.
Matsuo Basho

A haiku is the expression of temporary enlightenment, in which we see into the life of things.
Reginald Horace Blyth

Instagram Haiku Captions

Poetry in motion.
Haiku in no time.
Poet and I know it.
Haiku-Time!
Haiku for you.
No better time for a haiku.
Start your day with a smile and a haiku.
Poetic justice.
Haiku = 5-7-5
Haiku-ing the night away.

Hashtags for Haiku Day

#NationalHaikuPoetryDay

#HaikuPoetry

#HaikuLovers

Etcetera

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