You may have been introduced to haiku in elementary or middle school by a well-meaning teacher who told you that haiku is a type of poem from Japan, set in nature, and written in three lines of five, seven, and five syllables. However, haiku is really more challenging, more subtle, and more intriguing than just saying something 'poetic' about nature in three lines and 17 syllables.

Haiku focus on a specific moment that catches the poet's attention and that sparks an imaginative leap - a haiku moment. Today, most haiku written in English (and many other languages throughout the world) are shorter than the traditional 17 syllables, and although most are still written in three lines, it's not unusual to see a haiku presented in just one or two lines.

Here's one of Tom Bierovic's haiku from Paper Boats

gathering clouds
in the pelican's beak
a PB&J

In this haiku, perhaps a person decided to leave the beach when the sky became increasingly cloudy and left a sandwich behind as a treat for the pelican, evoking in the reader a mixed feeling of disappointment due to the gathering clouds but delight in the pelican's good fortune. Or perhaps a person's attention was so focused on looking for shapes in the clouds that she didn't notice a pelican stealing her sandwich, evoking a feeling of wistfulness or loss. And maybe, since it's a PB&J, the person is a child. If so, is the child sad because his family is leaving the beach due to the gathering clouds? Is the child delighted because a pelican accepted a sandwich from her hand, or is she mad because she's still hungry? A good haiku leaves the reader with something to think about.

Of course, a reader might interpret a haiku differently than the poet intended or experience a different feeling than the one the poet tried to evoke. In haiku, a lot is left to the reader's imagination; in fact, the best haiku are unfinished until the reader adds what's sometimes called the fourth line- his or her own creative leap only hinted at by the poem itself.

Here's another of Tom's haiku from Paper Boats:

melting icicle
a sparrow showers
drip by drip

This poem won Runner-up in the British Haiku Society's awards contest for 2019 and was published in the prestigious journal, Blithe Spirit. Contest judge David Lanoue, offered this commentary about the poem:

The 'melting icicle' haiku is exquisite in its observation and suggestiveness of feeling. One drip at a time, the sparrow patiently showers: shaking its head (I imagine), ruffling its feathers, and then waiting for more. I imagine that it is also waiting for springtime heat and the resurgence of life that the melting of winter ice betokens. I sense such warmth, compassion, and camaraderie (Issa-like!) for the little bird.

Paper Boats has already earned its place among the finest collections of modern English language haiku. Readers of all ages and backgrounds will be sure to enjoy Tom Bierovic's intriguing, perceptive, and beautifully crafted poems!

About the Author
Tom Bierovic (M.Ed., M.Div.) is a widely published and award-winning poet. In his free time, Tom enjoys reading, playing backgammon, playing Native American flutes and Irish whistles, and drumming on bongos and djembe. He and his wife Laurie make their home in DeLand, Florida.