Why haiku?

Ameriku® is the fusion of haiku with art, but why haiku?

I suppose I could say that when you've written over 300 of them, what else are you going to do? But that's not the real answer. The real answer is not a 10-second sound bite. It's not just this one thing, or that. It's a combination of reasons that teased themselves out of the murky abyss over time.

Of course, I like haiku. That comes first.

Next, it's no secret that haiku is highly visual and nature-oriented. Or that haiku is short. What other poetic form—besides senryu—packs so much into so few syllables?

The art of haiku is the art of simplicity and understatement. There is little room to elaborate on a thought or a feeling. Whatever the poet wants to share it must be done without fanfare, stripped to the essential images.

Since those images are almost always rooted in one of the four seasons—spring, summer, fall, or winter—coupling the words to illustration creates harmony.

Also, there is some historical precedence for illustrating haiku, just as there is precedence for altering the number of lines, or the syllables, as long as it serves the art and the meaning of haiku, and does not stray too far.

Haiku is typically written in three lines in the English language, and those lines roughly conform to the 5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable rule. These are not really rules so much as guidelines. But on the most basic level, haiku is a complete poem in 3 short lines.

A poem like this does not take a long time to read. Like the moment in time that the haiku represents, reading the haiku is also a moment in time. It's accessible. It's a rest stop that can be read on the run.

Much longer, and the poem would overwhelm the visual art.

Much shorter, and the poem might lack meaning.

But haiku is so much more than a short poem. There is no haiku without observation. Haiku forces you to be present, and to stop thinking about all the things that you have to do and all the problems that you have to resolve. Like haiku, my work is grounded in the observation of nature—

the wind that smells of rain on the day before spring

the confetti showered from the trees of October

the tinkling chimes of the ice-laden boughs of winter

the summer's heat reflected in a pool of sweat.

When I create Ameriku, I'm inspired by what is real and sensory, whether sight or smell, touch, temperature, or sound, there is always a shiver of recognition, and the sense of something both transitory and timeless.

Ameriku is the art of poetry, a trademarked form of fine art that fuses haiku (and sometimes senryu) with visual art, such as nature photography.

You might think of Ameriku (a-MARE-i-coo, where "ku" is pronounced "coo") as shorthand for American haiku Art.

My name is Rae Hallstrom, and Ameriku is my art and my business and my brand.

Ameriku® is the registered trademark of Ameriku Ltd. Whenever you see the Ameriku trademark, you can be sure that the work meets my high standards of quality.