IONE L. (zaneygraylady) - 3/30/2007 4:16 PM ET

I have thought haiku was three lines and seventeen sylables. That's what I found in the dictionary. Could someone please tell me must it also be five sylabales in the first line sveen in the second and five in the last. If that is so I will have to revise the other haiku's I have submitted. I really like writing haiku because it helps me to see beauty in each day and to focus on it, but I do want it to be corect.

Maggie M. - 3/31/2007 2:06 AM ET

Ione, the original syllabic form of the haiku was 5-7-5, but modern haiku often relax that rule. For a good discussion of this issue, google "haiku" and the Wikipedia definition will come up. Cheers-- Maggie, who likes to try the 5-7-5 on occasion but has nothing to show for it at present....