Daily Reverance

Haiku should be approached with a daily sort of reverence, as we might approach an encounter with a great spiritual teacher.

(The Sound of Water)

That's a line and a way of considering haiku that I've taken to heart. By that I mean I've been reading just one haiku a day because I can only take in and appreciate so much revelation at a time.

And on the subject of haiku…

… you do not have to write three lines of 5/7/5 (5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line, and 5 syllables in the third line). You may do so, if you can do it well without fluff words (many can't). If you write 5/7/5, that does not make your poem more of a haiku than someone who does not write 5/7/5.

An ideal haiku should be short/long/short - but that depends on the haiku itself. There is nothing wrong with 5/7/5, if that is what you want to write. However, the majority of modern haiku in most of the journals are not 5/7/5. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have its place.

However, it is all "haiku," not "haiku" and "other." It's just haiku.

(Shadow Poetry: Haiku and Senryu)