| Everyone at one time or another has | | | | something specific... something present |
| heard of or read haiku poems. This | | | | moment to complete this haiku:winter |
| ancient Japanese art form has been | | | | morning --ice crystalshang off the pine |
| around for a very long time. And with | | | | Notice how the phrase actually |
| good reason! | | | | "completes" the fragment so to speak. |
| It's a very beautiful and elegant poetic | | | | They go together to create what some |
| expression. With just a few words, the | | | | poets call an absolute metaphor. That's |
| haiku poet can create a present moment - | | | | not important. What is important is |
| a snapshot of nature or an event taking | | | | learning how to create phrases for in |
| place. No other poetry can do this with | | | | this your success as a haiku poet rests. |
| such economy, nor with such elegance! | | | | Creating phrases has everything to do |
| To create haiku poems, you must | | | | with creating what haiku poet Ray |
| understand what it is and how it is | | | | Rasmussen has called "first order mind |
| written today. No longer bound by the | | | | sense impressions." |
| 5-7-5 syllable rule, modern haiku poetry | | | | That is, to create a present moment or |
| uses something called phrase and | | | | an event about a present moment, you |
| fragments theory to create with. This is | | | | need to be able to write in the present |
| a lot simpler than it sounds. It just | | | | moment. To practice this, it's a good |
| means that most haiku composed in the | | | | idea to first read haiku you enjoy by |
| west uses a sentence fragment - usually | | | | others. Soak in their style and what |
| something like "winter morning" to set | | | | they do. Then once you have an idea of |
| the mood or ambiance. | | | | the kind of things you want to write |
| This is followed by a more complete | | | | about, start writing your own haiku |
| phrase. For example, with a fragment | | | | poems. |
| like "winter morning," we can use | | | | |