With Matthew GollubAuthor and Haiku translator of Cool Melons-Turn to Frogs! and Author of Ten Oni Drummers
The following excerpt is reprinted by permission from the article: Cool Words Turn to Poems, by Jennifer Johnson. It was first published in the September/October 1998 issue of Creative Classroom. Known as the "world's shortest poetry" haiku has exactly 17 syllables in three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five again in the third. Students may notice that the haiku in Cool Melons do not necessarily have 17 syllables. That's because they have been translated from Japanese. (Japanese words typically have more syllables than their English translations.) Here are other interesting facts: -Haiku is very old. it originated in Japan, where poets have been writing for several hundred years, even before Issa's time. -Traditional haiku depicts a single moment in nature. It is usually based on a discovery or an observation. -A haiku is like a quick line sketch. It's up to the reader to imagine the details and to make the picture complete In a sense, we can think of a haiku as a telegram, for example: "Should arrive Tuesday, supper time." From this short message, we can infer that, weather permitting, the sender will arrive on Tuesday, and after the tiresome journey, she would appreciate a good meal. -Often, haiku describes two events side by Side, such as: "Plum tree in bloom/a cat's silhouette/upon the paper screen." -Almost all traditional haiku convey a sense of season. But rather than name the season outright, most haiku rely on a word or to suggest the season indirectly. For example, "blossom" is a kigo for spring. Learn more about Cool Melons-Turn to Frogs! Also by Matthew Gollub: Ten Oni Drummers  BookTalk with Kazuko G. Stone on Cool Melons- Turn to Frogs!
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