In honor of National Poetry Month, I will post poetry writing exercises and prompts throughout April.
Today try your hand at writing haiku in English. Inspired by the Japanese poetic form, a haiku in English is usually written in three lines with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second, and five in the final line. Japanese haiku usually include a season word, but many English-speaking poets writing haiku do not adhere to this convention.
Below is one of my favorite English haiku by Sonia Sanchez:
i have caught fire from
your mouth now you want me to
swallow the ocean