Think that haiku is just a short poem with 3 lines of 5/7/5 syllables originating in Japan? Join this circle to learn the intricate meaning of haiku, senryu, and tanka in the English language today, and to explore and write ever more perceptively in these magical forms.

News Haiku & Senryu & Tanka: official DEFINITION - 08/01/2004 by Agnes Eva HAIKU Definition: A haiku is a short poem that uses imagistic language to convey the essence of an experience of nature or the season intuitively linked to the human condition. SENRYU Definition: A senryu is a poem, structurally similar to haiku, that highlights the foibles of human nature, usually in a humorous or satiric way. TANKA Definition: Tanka in English have generally been in five lines with a total of thirty-one or fewer syllables, often observing a short, long, short, long, long pattern. It has always been a poem of feelings, often involving metaphor and other figurative language (not generally used in haiku). (Definitions courtesy of HSA & William J. Higginson) July Kukai - a celebration of colors: new contest- winners announced - 08/01/2004 by Agnes Eva Congrats to Maureen Glaude, who won the most recent kukai (anonymous voting contest), which focused on colors in haiku. Below are the top 3 poems: FIRST PLACE: Maureen Glaude pink cancer ribbons over our breasts - at her wake SECOND PLACE: Ian Daw morning rain reflected in a jellyfish - colorless. THIRD PLACE: Agnes Eva cold rain the Valentine paper heart glows red Tips for Haiku writing - 12/04/2003 by Agnes Eva Make sure to check out the forum page for more on the definition of haiku: in the Tips from Masters section, and our fellow members' recommendations, as well as any exercises that get posted. The featured poems for now are Haiku of the Day, chosen for their exemplary sensibility of the complexity of haiku, according to the definitions the published haiku world today puts forth. I hope they will inspire writers to formulate an idea of what haiku should strive to do. The more good haiku we read, the more we can start to understand their true magic. Welcome to The Tadpole Society, the circle that's a pond - 12/01/2003 by Agnes Eva This is the place for haiku, senryu, and tanka writers and enthusiasts! I'd like to start things off with a preliminary set of definitions for the three forms. My understanding of them is ever expanding daily, as I read various theories, published works, and Frogpond, the publication of the Haiku Society of America, of which I am a new member. That's why I've called this the Tadpole Society; we're mostly novices in these forms, and even the published among us are always reading more and trying to write better to capture those elusive 'haiku moments'. Haiku: An unrhymed poem recording the essence of a moment keenly perceived, in which Nature is linked to human nature, usually written in three lines totalling fewer than 17 syllables. One way to write them, often called 'traditional', is to follow a 5-7-5 syllabic structure, but many published haiku do not- some are even one liners! Senryu: Structurally similar to haiku but primarily concerned with human nature; often humorous or satiric. Tanka: An unrhymed poem consisting of five lines of 31 syllables or less, following the short/long/short/long/long form, which can be 5/7/5/7/7. Excellent resources which further define, as well as give comprehensive writing tips on haiku and senryu: shadowpoetry.com/resources/haiku/haiku.html and on tanka: shadowpoetry.com/resources/haiku/tanka.html

Forums (members only) Featured Poems Backyard senyru by Kara Hayostek Evening Haiku by Maureen Glaude Haiku for a Rain Day by Maureen Glaude Late Fall Tanka by Maureen Glaude My Tadpole Society Kukai Entry (Color) by Maureen Glaude Tactile Tanka by Maureen Glaude Members Andrew S Adams Julie Adams Bob Arcania Melissa Arel Steve Baba Kimberly Bare Ashley Beaudoin Melanie A Bennett Jim Benz Laurie Blum Soulo Jacob Bourgeau William Brunk Joe Cramer Glenn Currier Agnes Eva, Circle Moderator Erin Eymard Dave Fitzgerald Linda Fuller Maureen Glaude Jo Halliday Samiah Haque Sigurdur Haraldsson Charles M Harrison Kara Hayostek Meghan Helmich Paganini Jones Stephanie Kent Kyle Anne Kish Ann Krischus Pall Kvaran Maryellen Lebeda-Parra Rhonda Maneki Keith McFarlane D. James McKee Cole Miller David Neubauer Bruce W Niedt Angela Nuzzo Jeffrey Parren Robin Patterson E. A. Pugh Patricia J Reed Lindsay Sanders Anastasia Shows Michael Smith Alex Smyth Wendy Sparling David R Spellman Genevieve Sturrock Darren Swift Kourosh Taheri-Golvarzi Uriel Tovar Richard Trotter S.J. Tyler Carl Walker Jason Wardell Tony Whitaker A. Paige White Kathleen Wilson