Haiku grew from Japanese poetic practice. In English, it is often taught as three lines of five, seven, and five syllables. That pattern can be a useful exercise, but Japanese sound units do not map neatly to English syllables, and many English language haiku take a looser shape.
Look for a concrete moment, often with a seasonal detail. Two images can meet across a cut or pause, letting the reader feel a connection the poem never spells out. For a first draft, write what you actually saw, not what the scene is supposed to mean.
Try a short haiku exercise. For more on the form, see the Poetry Foundation’s haiku glossary.
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