Modern Haiku
Many modern western poets do not subscribe to the 5-7-5 pattern. The Academy of American Poets recognizes this evolution, but maintains that several core principles remain woven into the tapestry of modern haiku. That is, a haiku still focuses on one brief moment in time, employs provocative, colorful imagery, and provides a sudden moment of illumination.
Here are seven examples of 20th-century haiku poems:
From across the lake,
Past the black winter trees,
Faint sounds of a flute.
- Richard Wright
Lily:
out of the water
out of itself
- Nick Virgilio
ground squirrel
balancing its tomato
on the garden fence
- Don Eulert
Nightfall,
Too dark to read the page
Too cold.
- Jack Kerouac
Just friends:
he watches my gauze dress
blowing on the line.
- Alexis Rotella
A little boy sings
on a terrace, eyes aglow.
Ridge spills upward.
- Robert Yehling
meteor shower
a gentle wave
wets our sandals
- Michael Dylan Welch
