LEVITAS: Just say that the syllable count is the only defining feature, and to say that something is not a haiku based on the number of syllables is really missing the forest for the trees. MCCAMMON: That's Matt Levitas from the Japan Information and Cultural Center. But that's one of probably a dozen tools in the haiku writer's kit. MATT LEVITAS: You know, if you ask anybody on the street, you'll be told it's five-seven-five. MCCAMMON: Nice one, Garry, but a basketball spins on the edge - that's not five syllables.įRIEDMAN: I will never say to someone that's not a haiku because if people are so wrapped up in pinning down definitions, they're not wrapped up in the desire to write poetry. And the haiku reads - (reading) a basketball spins on the edge of the hoop, spring equinox. And the winners are printed on yard signs and scattered around the neighborhood.ĪBIGAIL FRIEDMAN: Yeah, I do. For the past five years, the Golden Triangle neighborhood in Washington, D.C., has asked for haiku submissions. I was joined by Abigail Friedman, a former American diplomat to Japan and one of the judges of the Golden Haiku competition. I hit the streets of Washington, D.C., this week to find out more about what makes a haiku a haiku. We should say this is not an April Fools' joke. That is a traditional Japanese form of poetry that's based on a five-seven-five syllable structure - or is it? Because of that particular requirement, many of the poems we get are haiku. And yes, we know Twitter now allows more characters, but we're still asking you to keep it to 140, if you would, please. Every year, we get many creative original poems sent to us in under 140 characters. Twitter is now officially open to your submissions to hashtag #nprpoetry. It's April 1, a day of celebrations - April Fools' Day, Easter Sunday and the first day of Poetry Month.
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