I love haikus myself and have a lot of write ups about this but will shorten to a brief recap. There are varying kinds of haiku.

As a general rule a classical Japanese haiku:

1. consists of 17 Japanese syllables (5-7-5)
2. contains at least some reference to nature (other than human nature)
3. refers to a particular event (i.e., it is not a generalization)
4. presents that event as happening now – not in the past

gardenia blossom
heady fluted fragrance
engulfs humid air
but many are being born, to other structures

beyond the dark
where I disrobe
an iris in bloom
(Katsura Nobuko)

"A 'Western Haiku' need not concern itself with seventeen syllables since Western Languages cannot adapt themselves to the fluid syllabillic Japanese and therefore is accepted as 15 or less syllables.

A big fat flake
of snow
Falling all alone
(Jack Kerouac)

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
(Ezra Pound)
Lily:
out of the water . . .
out of itself.
(Nicholas Virgilio)
Another example of a successful departure from a three line haiku is Takayanagi Shigenobu's haiku, which is basically a concrete haiku:

in a mountain range's
creases
hear
ing
clear
ly

the
bur
ied
ear
s
(Takayanagi Shigenobu)

poems of love and erotica were written in the more ancient tanka form, a Japanese approximate 5 lined poem of 31 Japanese syllables.

in your panties
slightly pulled down
a crisp fallen leaf

that first time
my middle-finger slipped into
your warm wet cleft
Hiroaki Sato

Senryu is defined as: "1: A Japanese poem structurally similar to the Japanese haiku but primarily concerned with human nature; often humorous or satiric and can be. compressed into something less than 17 syllables. Senryu is the same as haiku except, instead of dealing with Nature, it is specifically about human nature and human relationships and is often humorous."

naked
her gown
on the floor


the zappai: "In Japanese poetry, zappai includes all types of seventeen syllable poems that do not have the proper formal or technical characteristics of haiku…"

Night begins to gather between her breasts
George Swede

to better explain by example



haiku: Bass
picking bugs
off the moon
Nicholas A. Virgilio (2)

senryu: While the guests order,
the table cloth hides his hands -
counting his money.
Clement Hoyt (2)


zappai: Cook it in the can
SPAM, block of cheese, brown sugar
I can't get it out
--Phil and Amy Timberlake (3)
So as you can see there is much freedom in the formatting of a haiku, although the rules in description and acceptance by editors are stringent, to publish or enter competitions, haikus would need to adhere to extreme rules of imaging and how to use this for each different kind of haiku.

hope I have not confused things and I can add more on the actual acceptance of imagery in each haiku as there are rules here also, humanization not being acceptable.

example....Humanization

rain heavy on leaves
already bent boughs strain more
and trees cry their pain

The trees didn't cry, and watching them, try as I might, I never heard them cry. They can't cry: they are trees! As poetic as the thought of crying trees may be, my job as a haiku student is to impart an observation without applying my own emotion or judgement to the haiku. Perhaps a better way to write the haiku would be:

heavy rains
boughs bend in the wet
trees lean

and the readers imagination lets the haiku soar.


shh echoes!