Fun With Haiku: Starter Lines That Kill It

I have been encouraging my teen clients to try poetry for therapeutic self-expression. As a former high school English teacher, I find teaching young minds the basic mechanics of haiku to be both easy and fun. Essentially write down: 3 lines that go 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables and involve a reference to nature or two disparate concepts that have an interesting relationship.

The last time I made a haiku, I was playing Cards Against Humanity. The "Happy Ending Rule" requires players to "draw two, pick three, make a haiku" to determine the winner. Trust me when I say this rule has led to some epic poet-making.

To help my teen clients out, I gave them some haiku starter lines. Basically just some free-flowing inspiration to help get them going or keep them moving. What they came up with is so fun and enlightening, I decided to share the starter lines here. Try making your own haiku out using some of these:

Five Syllables

My favorite ice cream	My mother’s right eye	A funnier thing	This stupid poem	Old Spice shower gel
Everywhere I look	I still feel that way	I’m flying away	Now I feel guilty	Some people are trees

Seven Syllables
 

Taking slow the long way home	Filling up my car with gas	My heart is sick with worry	Native born sons and daughters	Little Japanese poems
Shut up your face you old hag	Olive branches remind me	Like sand drifting on the beach	As much as I care to say	And no one will ever know

Five Syllables
 

How much I love you	My worst memory	Yeah, Thanks, Obama	And I ran away	Because I don’t care
Everything I am	Spirit of friendship	I’m losing my mind	Today I begin	I am a poet