I've just discovered a great twitter trend that I am really enjoying being a part of - writing Haiku poetry. The short posts that twitter is all about lend themselves perfectly to this beautiful and concise form of poetry, and I have found that there are loads of people writing and publishing their Haikus on twitter. There is even a name for it - the Twaiku. But I suppose I shouldn't get ahead of myself, so in case your not familiar with the ancient Japanese art ofl writing Haikus, here is a very short guide for the beginner:

A Haiku is a poem with 17 syllables split up over 3 lines. The first line should have 5 syllables, the second line 7, and the last line 5. The nusomember of words doesn't matter, as long as you get the number of syllables correct. In very traditional poems the first two lines are usually used to evoke some kind of image or feeling in the reader, and then there is a break in the flow for the third line which is some kind of pithy punchline (of a kind), which imparts some kind of wisdom. Often the first two lines are based on some observation or evocative image from the natural world. But these things aren't hard and fast rules - as long as you have 3 lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables it counts as a Haiku.

A good Haiku is, in my humble personal opinion, one of the most beautiful forms of poetry. If you can manage to impart some kind of message or meaning then there is a kind of elegance I the brevity of the text which really appeals. And by forcing you to condense your thoughts down to a few choice words the Haiku can often make what would be a vague thought even in your own mind much clearer. This is perhaps one of the reasons why Haiku's are so stronlgy associated with wisdom and philosophical (or spiritual) insight in Japanese thought.

From a writers perspective they also don't take too long to write, which makes them quite fun to do if you have a few minutes to spare. As there are already so many people on Twitter who are getting into Haikus it isn't difficult to find either good examples and inspiration or people who are willing to follow your work if you are any good. You can also get ideas whilst at the same time getting involved in the community by taking part in things like the Haiku Challenge - todays challenge was to write a poem with the word 'find' included in it. Here is what I wrote for it:

"Now I find myself / but not where I left myself / resting on the wind"

I've included two feeds below; the top one shows all of the latest Haiku poetry posted on the Twitter website, and the other one is a feed from a profile I set up especially for publishing my own work (Haikwho). I hope you enjoy reading them all, and that some of you will be inspired to join in this trend and post your on Twaikus!