The Real Discipline of Haiku

Post date: Apr 04, 2016 6:48:54 PM

More than once I’ve heard haiku neophytes defend their counting of syllables in haiku because they say they like the “discipline.” What they don’t seem to realize is that Japanese haiku don’t count syllables at all, but something different. Furthermore, the superficial discipline of syllable counting obscures far more challenging and more important disciplines for the haiku art. Read about “The Discipline of Haiku,” newly added to the Essays page. This essay appeared in Schuylkill Valley Journal in March of 2016.