Image via Wikipedia

I’ve been learning a lot about writing haiku through my article series, Quicksilver, on The Haiku Foundation (THF) blog, troutswirl. This column has been amazing for me.  The advice I get from the readers is incredible.

Lorin Ford, award winning haiku author, recommended a great article for me, so that I can better understand the “rules” of haiku.  Seeing all the rules side by side, one can really see how they conflict and that I can really pick and choose which to use.

I’ve been learning to write about my personal experiences.  I enjoy looking around at the world through haiku eyes and am discovering new details that I had missed before.

I’m on vacation here in NC.  Yesterday we went for a swim in one of our favorite spots.  I wrote this haiku:

pine trees line an arm
of Lake Hiawatha
breast stroke echoes

I noticed that as I swam, I could hear the faint echoes of my breath.  It was such a wonderfully tranquil moment.

I wrote this one based on many experiences going to Honeymoon Island beach near my home:

a cry rends the air
the circling seagull snags
her last cookie

You should hear the cry of my three-year-old daughter when the seagull snags her cookie.  Then she runs after them and shouts, “THAT’S NOT OK!!”