haikaiTALKS: one-line haiku | a saturday gathering under the banyan tree

host: Srinivasa Sambangi

12th April 2025

haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering under the banyan tree

Your host for haikaiTALKS: Srinivas Sambangi

haikaiTALKS 12th April 2025

One/two/four Line Haiku:

We are all aware that majority of the haiku written in English language are

three liners. However, all the haiku cannot fit into three lines for the reasons

we are going to explore. Out of curiosity I did some research about their

numbers in the Herons Nest for three years (2022-2024). Interestingly one

liners appeared are 16%, two-liners 0.2%, four liners zero and the rest are

three liners.

The structure of haiku depends on what format it suits best. The number of

lines may vary from one to four.

In the next three weeks, let’s focus on writing one, two and four-line haiku.

This week let’s discuss about one-line

One-line haiku:

One-line haiku is also called monoku, monostich, one-liner, etc. The rules for

one-line haiku are very much same as a three-line haiku. As it’s one line, the

break in the poem is offered by the language used. Words have their own

natural breaks. Often, we prefer one liner when a poem can be read in

multiple ways and it contains multiple, overlapping readings which enhances

the reading experience.

Look at my favourite example:

mallards leaving in the water rippled sky

- Penny Harter

You have all the characteristics of a three line haiku here like juxtaposition

between two images etc., It can be read in many ways giving a different break

each time you read:

mallards leaving in the water/rippled sky

mallards leaving/in the water/rippled sky

mallards/leaving in the water/rippled sky

mallards leaving in/ the water rippled sky

Give a little pause at the end of each variation and internalise the images. You

will feel a different experience each time.

Some other examples:

mud flats at low tide autumn rain

--John Stevenson

chestnut moon shifting in my memory ghost floors

- Alan Summers

Looking at the following examples, it’s self-explanatory why some haiku need

to be written in one line only:

pig and i spring rain

- Marlene Mountain

a man in a crowd in a man

- John Stevenson

Please write and post your one-line haiku this week.

Ref:

https://www.waleshaikujournal.com/post/monoku

https://area17.blogspot.com/2016/12/travelling-single-line-of-haiku-

one.html

https://thehaikufoundation.org/reading-one-line-haiku-with-kat-and-robin-

multiple-breaks-and-multiple-readings/

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KIGO WORDS

Shall we please try to include a kigo word in all the poems we share here?

Give the season and the word—under your poem.

I'm quoting Lev Hart's request here: "This week’s goal is to compose two verses with toriawase, blending wabi, sabi, karumi, mono no aware, and/or yugen. Tell us which aesthetic concepts you mean to express in a line below the verse. Strive for originality. Avoid stock phrases and shopworn images."

For seasonal references, please check these lists:

“A Dictionary of Haiku Classified by Season Words with Traditional and Modern Methods,” by Jane Reichhold:

https://thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/files/original/7fb6654a1dfd1afef97369da920530f8.pdf

indian subcontinent SAIJIKI:

https://www.trivenihaikai.in/indian-saijiki

The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words:

http://www.2hweb.net/haikai/renku/500ESWd.html

The World Kigo Database:

https://wkdkigodatabase03 .blogspot.com/

The Yuki Teikei Haiku Season Word List:

https://yths.org/season-word -list/

Thank you for this post, Srinivas.