Shiki’s tips for beginning haiku writers
1. Be natural
2. Don’t bother about old rules of grammar and special points like spelling, kireji.
3. Read the old authors, remembering that in them you will find good and bad poems.
4. Notice that commonplace haiku are not direct, but artificially twisted out of shape.
5. Write to please yourself. If your writings do not please yourself, how can you expect them to please anybody else?
From “An Introduction to Haiku” by Harold G. Henderson. 1958
There is my problem with Haiku, I think, number 4. Mine always make sense, they are not twisted out of shape like yours are (meaning traditional Haiku – yours are wonderful). I must practice this. I have a whole booked filled with Haiku, but they don’t work well, I don’t think, for most people. It is not typical Haiku. Thank you for this post. XO