About contemporary haiku and senryu

Contemporary english-language haiku are much more than the 5-7-5 syllable nature poems we studied in elementary school. At their core, haiku express a moment of awareness, usually occurring in the most ordinary moments of daily life. Haiku refer to nature, often to a season, and many haiku illuminate humankind's place in nature. Senryu express a moment of awareness about humanity or human interactions, rather than nature, and often are subtly humorous, but are otherwise like haiku. Haiku and senryu both contain two separate images. The juxtaposition of those images creates the resonance that draws the reader deeper.
Haiku and senryu are written in the present tense and are short - it is often said that they can be read in one breath - but they need not follow the 5-7-5 syllable format, and are, in fact, typically shorter. Although usually three lines, they can just as easily be written in one line, as in Japanese.
Haiku and senryu express our experience boiled down to its essentials. When a moment in life touches us, haiku and senryu answer the question, what moved me to be aware of this moment?

empty sky
the soup kitchen line
stands still

[Mariposa 24, Spring/Summer 2011]
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moonset
the dog places his paw
on the yoga mat

[Mariposa 24, Spring/Summer 2011]
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dawn glow
the smell of her
shower steam

[Modern Haiku, Vol. 42.2, Summer 2011]
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record cold
the half-empty tray
of rat poison

[Modern Haiku, Vol. 42.2, Summer 2011]
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