What follows here is a letter I wrote to my cousin...more reflections to come
Writing Haiku
by John Moore
Haiku. This, Lexie, is a topic very close to my heart. You are right about the haiku being 5-7-5 in syllabic structure; and I would venture to say that is about half of what you need to know in order to write good haiku. Obviously the structure is important. It is important in the limitation it puts on your potential use of adjective: you are forced to perceive your point to its very core. This concept goes hand in hand with Zen Buddhism's minimalistic approach to the teaching of the Dharma (this word has many meanings, one of which is "ultimate Truth"). You focus your awareness so well that you actually become the object you are observing. Now that is heavy stuff, and I am not claiming to be able to really do this, but sometimes I feel close. Those are the times when I write good haiku.
In order to be a master of haiku, you basically have to be a Zen master. You have learned the structure of haiku so well that it no longer matters, when you choose to write a haiku, you just do it and it is right. This means a lot of practise. I try to write haiku often. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're not so good, and sometimes they are a revelation!
There are lots of "rules" for haiku, but the only real rule is the 5-7-5 structure. You just capture your moment of awareness. Traditionally haiku are closely associated with nature and they often either imply or mention a season but this is not necessarily a rule. There are many great haiku written about experiences indoors or in a city or lying in bed or anything! If someone wants to tell you about "traditional" haiku, they can often do a pretty good job convincing you there are more "rules" for a true haiku, but that is just because their vision is clouded with preconceived ideas.
A haiku is much more personal and transcends all rules anyway.
All of this theorising is my own opinion and shared by many, but still in the school systems there are teachers who, for some reason or other, never fully understood what haiku is about. Haiku is not for everyone, but I feel that it is for me.
hunched back sore behind
overcast afternoon sky
the CD just stopped
By the way, haiku doesn't usually use the first or second person and generally stays away from pronouns. It often drops definite and indefinite articles and doesn't necessarily require punctuation or capitalisation. You really have to just find your own style.