Worku: Beyond 5–7–5?

A little experiment in the art of haiku

Most of us learned that a haiku is a Japanese poem with three lines and seventeen syllables, arranged 5–7–5. That’s how we’ve been writing Worku since the beginning.

But there’s something interesting about that rule. Traditional Japanese haiku uses seventeen on, or sound units, arranged 5–7–5. These aren’t quite the same as English syllables. In fact, seventeen English syllables can accommodate considerably more language than seventeen Japanese on.

As haiku developed in English, many poets began moving away from the strict 5–7–5 pattern. They placed greater emphasis on some of the qualities that make haiku distinctive: brevity, imagery, an immediate experience, the juxtaposition of images, and often a little turn or pause that allows the reader to discover something without having it explained.

The Haiku Society of America explains these differences in its discussion of Japanese and English-language haiku. Its updated definition of haiku also emphasizes imagery and the meaningful relationship between images or ideas, rather than a fixed syllable count:

A haiku is a short poem that uses imagistic language to convey the essence of an experience of nature or the season intuitively linked to the human condition.
– Definitions of Haiku & Related Terms Report of the HSA Definitions Committee, September 18, 2004

Which brings me to Worku.

I’ve been noticing, especially during our Game Nights, how much effort we spend trying to make our poems fit seventeen syllables. Sometimes we find just the right words. Other times we’re adding words to fill a line or removing something interesting simply because it doesn’t fit.

And I wonder whether our devotion to 5–7–5 sometimes gets in the way of the poetry.

Worku already gives us a peculiar creative challenge. We’re handed words we didn’t choose, often with little apparent relationship to each other, and asked to make something meaningful from them. Perhaps that’s enough of a constraint without requiring an exact syllable count.

Let’s try an experiment!

For your next Daily Worku, I’d like to invite you to write two versions using exactly the same constraint words, in the same order.

Version 1: Write your Worku as usual, in strict 5–7–5.

Version 2: Forget the syllable count. Keep the poem brief, preferably three lines, and use the same constraint words in order. Concentrate on the imagery, the moment, the language, and whatever surprise or discovery the poem might offer.

Then see what happens. Does the second version feel different? Does it give you more freedom? Or does the discipline of 5–7–5 actually help you find the poem?

There’s no right answer, and there’s certainly no preferred version.

And to be clear, this is just an experiment. We’re not changing the Worku rules. I’m interested in what happens when we loosen one constraint while keeping the others, and whether doing so might bring our poems a little closer to the art and spirit of haiku.

A quick distinction from Freestyle Worku: Freestyle allows you to use the constraint words in whatever order you like. This experiment is different. The constraint words must still appear in their original order; we’re only setting aside the 5–7–5 requirement.

I’d love to hear what you discover. Text if you know the number or email hello@worku.game.

worku every day!