StretchLearn Course

Write haiku that cut, not just count to seventeen

Master the season word, the two-image juxtaposition, and the cutting word, learn why 5-7-5 is a myth in English, and prune every line until only the necessary image is left standing.

Preview Curriculum Back to Catalog

Beginner9 hrSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

This course teaches micro-poetry using the conventions practicing haiku poets actually use, not the grade-school 5-7-5 rule. You will work with kigo and the saijiki season-word almanac, build the two-image juxtaposition that the Japanese kireji marks, count by sound and prune to the English equivalent of about ten to fourteen syllables, and tell haiku from senryu from tanka. Every lesson pairs a craft principle with named poets, real example poems, and revision drills, drawing on Basho, Buson, Issa, and Shiki, the Haiku Society of America definitions, and contemporary English-language journals such as Modern Haiku, Frogpond, and The Heron's Nest.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Choose and place a kigo so a single season word anchors a poem in time, place, and mood

Build a two-part haiku with a clear cut and a fresh juxtaposition instead of one continuous sentence

Count by sound rather than the 5-7-5 myth and compress an English haiku to roughly ten to fourteen syllables

Distinguish haiku, senryu, and tanka and write each to its own purpose and register

Revise a draft by cutting articles, abstractions, and explanation until only the necessary image remains

Read and submit to the haiku tradition using its vocabulary: kigo, kireji, kire, ma, and the saijiki

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: What Haiku Actually Is

Before writing a line, you replace the grade-school definition with the working one. You learn where haiku came from, why English counts differently from Japanese, and what the form is really built to do.

3 lessons

The 5-7-5 Myth and How Sound Actually CountsContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

The Four Masters and a One-Breath TraditionContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Image, Not Statement: The Core DisciplineContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: The Season Word: Kigo and the Saijiki

The kigo is what most separates haiku from a generic short poem. You learn what season words are, how the saijiki almanac organizes them, and how one word can carry a whole season's weight.

3 lessons

Kigo: How One Word Sets the SeasonContent · 45 min

LMS Access

The Saijiki: Using a Season-Word AlmanacContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Building Your Own Season PaletteContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Juxtaposition and the Cut

The engine of haiku is two images set against each other across a cut. You learn the cutting word, where to place the break, and how to find a juxtaposition that surprises.

3 lessons

Kireji and the Two-Part StructureContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Finding a Juxtaposition That SurprisesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Where to Break the LineContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Senryu, Tanka, and Brevity as Craft

Haiku has close relatives and demands a particular kind of revision. You learn to tell senryu and tanka apart from haiku, and to cut a draft down to only what is necessary.

3 lessons

Senryu: Haiku's Human, Funnier CousinContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Tanka: Five Lines and Room to FeelContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Brevity as Craft: Revising by SubtractionContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

haikumicro-poetrysenryutankakigojuxtapositionbrevitypoetry craft