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Haiku: A Tiny Poem
A haiku is a very short poem from Japan. It has only 3 lines and follows a special syllable pattern:
Line 1: 5 syllables
Line 2: 7 syllables
Line 3: 5 syllables
What is a syllable? It is a beat in a word. Clap along:
- Cat = 1 clap (1 syllable)
- Kit-ten = 2 claps (2 syllables)
- But-ter-fly = 3 claps (3 syllables)
- Cat-er-pil-lar = 4 claps (4 syllables)
Here is a haiku about a frog:
A small green frog sits (5: A-small-green-frog-sits)
On a lily pad so still (7: On-a-li-ly-pad-so-still)
Then jumps in the pond (5: Then-jumps-in-the-pond)
Haiku are traditionally about nature, but you can write them about anything! The challenge is fitting your idea into exactly 5-7-5 syllables.