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?

Gutai at the Guggenheim

staying behind the line splatter art

thick swirls the neat signature

installation lingering in the bathroom

admiring the curves hand on her hip

intersecting lines a boy draws on the wall

Gutai the teacher tells the children what to see

[Frogpond, Vol. 36:2, Spring/Summer 2013]
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first day of spring
not waiting for the kids
to fall asleep

[Frogpond, Vol. 36:2, Spring/Summer 2013]
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