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?

Times Square
a tourist photographs
herself

[Modern Haiku, Vol. 41.1, Winter-Spring 2010]
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home office
my wife sends me an email
from the bedroom

[First place, senryu category, 2009 San Francisco International Competition for Haiku, Senryu, Tanka and Rengay, Sponsored by the Haiku Poets of Northern California]
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long flight
finishing my book
before take off

[bottle rockets, issue 22]
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camping alone
the big dipper turns
right-side up

[Mariposa 21, Autumn/Winter 2009]
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shavasana
a stranger and I
brush fingers

[Mariposa 21, Autumn/Winter 2009]
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haircut
the stylist flirts
with my son

[Prune Juice, Issue 2, Summer 2009]
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lunch alone
lotus stems drift
in my soup

[Prune Juice, Issue 2, Summer 2009]
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Baja midnight
stray dogs call
a truce

[A Travel-Worn Satchel, The Haiku Society of America Members' Anthology, 2009]
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lunch hour
lobsters duel
in the tank

[Frogpond, Vol. 32:2, Spring/Summer 2009]
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summer yoga
sweat rolls
up my nose

[Mariposa 20, Spring/Summer 2009]
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afternoon light
alpine lake
drips from my beard

[Mariposa 20, Spring/Summer 2009]
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vibrating train
the blind passenger
watches

[bottle rockets, issue 21]
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vasectomy day
small talk at school
with the moms

[bottle rockets, issue 21]
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27th floor
winter chill
in an orange

[bottle rockets, issue 21]
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sunny afternoon
the Dow gives back
its morning gains

[Modern Haiku, Vol. 40.2, Summer 2009]
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meditation
the light
through my eyelids

[Frogpond, Vol. 32:1, Winter 2009]
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summer afternoon --
watching Rocky
in the emergency room

[Mariposa 19, Autumn/Winter 2008]
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crowded crosswalk
the bike messenger
floats through

[Mariposa 19, Autumn/Winter 2008]
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in the shadow
of a parked car
crane flies mating

[Modern Haiku, Vol. 39.3, Autumn 2008]
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new neighbors
two beers and out comes
my old story

[Modern Haiku, Vol. 39.3, Autumn 2008]
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argument
the word not spoken
gets the final say

[Frogpond, Vol. 31:2, Spring/Summer 2008]
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summer day
the cap vendor sells
identities

[Modern Haiku, Vol. 39.2, Summer 2008]
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after rain
the squeal
of a circular saw

[Frogpond, Vol. 31:1, Winter 2008]
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