How to write a haiku
Begin with something you notice. Follow one small garden scene from a page of rough notes to a finished poem, and write your own alongside it.
A traditional approach, in English
We will work with close observation, a seasonal reference, and a cut between two images. Traditional Japanese haiku commonly arrange seventeen sound units, called on, in a 5–7–5 pattern. These are not the same as English syllables. Here we will try three lines of five, seven, and five syllables as an English writing exercise, while keeping the language natural.
The notes and drafts below are one original teaching example, built around an imagined observation. They show the whole process, including awkward early wording. When you try it, begin with a scene you have experienced; you do not need a spectacular view, a rhyme, or a lesson to teach.
1. Notice before you write
Pause long enough for something small to happen. Record what you can see, hear, or feel in ordinary words. Leave syllable counting until later. Imagine standing beside a garden birdbath on the first frosty morning of the season.
- Grass white with frost; it was green yesterday morning.
- Cold stone rim of the birdbath.
- A thin skin of ice across the water.
- One sparrow on the rim, tapping the ice with its beak.
- A bus passing beyond the garden fence.
Fragments are enough. “White grass” and “tapping the ice” give us something to see and hear. We have collected more than the poem will need.
Your turn Write down five things you notice in one place. Be specific before trying to be poetic.
2. Choose two related details
Choose two details from the same scene. Here, frost on the grass tells us the weather is cold, and the sparrow taps water that has frozen. Keep these details. Leave out the bus because it does not help describe the bird or the cold.
On this beautiful, peaceful morning I see white grass and a little sparrow tapping the ice in the birdbath.
The sentence describes the grass and the sparrow. It also tells us how the writer feels: “beautiful, peaceful”. The phrase “I see” adds words without adding detail. We will remove these phrases in a later step.
Your turn Choose two details from your notes and put them in one plain sentence.
3. Divide the sentence into three lines
Let the first line establish the wider scene. Use the next two for the bird’s action and its setting. Break at phrases you can say naturally. There is no need to reach seventeen syllables yet.
on this beautiful morning I see white grassand a little sparrow tapping the icein the birdbath
We have removed “peaceful” and divided the sentence into three lines. The first describes the grass, the second describes the bird’s action, and the third names the birdbath. The opening line is still too wordy; we will shorten it next.
Your turn Try one line for the setting and two for the small event. Read across the line breaks.
4. Remove unnecessary words
Remove “on this beautiful morning I see”. The grass can appear directly, without an introduction telling us how to feel. Remove “little”: naming the sparrow already suggests its size. Change “tapping” to “taps” so the action stands on its own.
white grassa sparrow taps the icein the birdbath
The shorter draft still describes the grass, bird, and ice. Removing “and” separates the grass from the bird’s action. The poem now has two parts instead of one continuous sentence.
Your turn Try removing phrases such as “I see” and “I feel peaceful”. Check whether the remaining words still describe the scene clearly.
5. Find the season in the notes
A kigo is a word or phrase associated with a season. “White grass” is vague: it might suggest frost, snow, or pale seed heads. Our notes already contain a more exact detail, the first frost. Bring that into the opening.
first frost on the grassa sparrow taps the icein the birdbath
“First frost” is a traditional early-winter season phrase. “First” also makes this a moment of change. It comes from the original notes; we have not added seasonal scenery just to meet a rule.
Your turn Find a seasonal clue in your own scene. Traditional kigo follow a shared calendar; local weather and seasonal timing may differ where you live.
6. Mark the cut with a dash
Read the first line, pause, then read the last two together. The first part describes the frosted grass; the second describes the sparrow tapping ice. This shift is the cut, or kire. Add an em dash after “grass” to mark the pause.
first frost on the grass—a sparrow taps the icein the birdbath
Only the dash is new. The two-part structure was already there. Japanese kireji, or cutting words, create emphasis or a pause; English has no exact equivalent. A dash can signal a cut, but it is not itself a Japanese cutting word.
Your turn Find where your poem changes from one detail to another. Try a dash there. Remove it and check that you can still identify two parts.
7. Listen, then try five–seven–five
Our draft currently has five, six, and four syllables. The notes include two details we left out: the ice was thin and the birdbath was stone. Adding “thin” and “stone” makes the description more specific and brings the count to five, seven, five.
first frost on the grass—5 syllablesa sparrow taps the thin ice7 syllablesin the stone birdbath5 syllables
“Sparrow” and “birdbath” each have two syllables; every other word here has one. “Thin” describes the ice’s thickness, and “stone” names the birdbath’s material. Both add information from the notes. If extra words in your own poem only fill a syllable count, remove them.
Your turn Count what you actually say. Keep every word for its contribution to the scene as well as its sound.
8. Read the finished poem once more
Put the draft aside briefly, then read it aloud. Check that the description is clear, the pause comes after “grass”, and “first frost” identifies the season. Check for unnecessary words or explanations. This draft needs no further changes.
first frost on the grass—a sparrow taps the thin icein the stone birdbath
This is the previous draft without the syllable counts. “First frost” is the seasonal phrase, the dash marks the cut, and the last two lines describe the sparrow tapping the ice. The poem ends with the description, without adding a statement about what it means.
Your turn Read your draft again. If the description is clear and each word is useful, you can keep it as your finished poem.
Write a haiku from your own notes
Spend five minutes at a window, on a doorstep, or beside a tree. Write down what you see, hear, or feel. Choose two related details, describe them in a plain sentence, and divide it into three lines.
Remove unnecessary words and explanations of your feelings. Look for a seasonal detail in your notes. Try a cut after the first or second line, then read aloud. Try 5–7–5 if it helps. Keep your drafts so you can compare the changes.
You have followed a poem from observation to revision. Try the same steps with your own notes, and compare your first and final drafts.