Haiku do NOT have to have 5/7/5 English syllables. "Seikatsu" haiku have to do with work and play and are not necessarily about nature.

Many of you have asked about the cutter in the haiku. If you read the poem aloud slowly, you will (or at least I do) hear a break between the second and third line. Note also the subject change.

I am teaching a course called "Japanese poetry-beginner" next month and we shall discuss how to be subtle with the cutter. Go to Classes on the above tool bar and choose "Japanese poetry--beginner." The syllabus and an opportunity to purchase the course should come up, if you so desire. If not, click on Course Details. In this course, we can talk about how to be subtle with a cutter.

Somewhere along the line there appeared the idea that words ending in "-ing" are not allowed in haiku. One word ending in "-ing" is perfectly acceptable in English language haiku.

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