At seventeen syllables, haiku is the shortest poem in world literature. It is now also the most popular form of poetry in the world, written in nearly every language. And yet, as haiku has spread internationally, one of the most important aspects of the tradition has largely been lost—the community of poets.
In Europe and the United States, haiku is often regarded as the domain of literary elites, but this is not the case in Japan, where haiku is deeply rooted in communal activity. Millions of amateur Japanese poets belong to haiku groups (clubs, really), which are sponsored by different “schools” of haiku, each with its own magazine. Most daily and weekly newspapers carry a haiku column featuring poems submitted by their subscribers, sometimes on the front page.
To help bring back this social dimension, we are inviting our readers to participate in the monthly Tricycle Haiku Challenge. Each month, moderator Clark Strand will select three poems to be published online, one of which will appear with a brief commentary. Each quarter, one of these poems also will appear in the print magazine alongside an extended commentary. In this way, we can begin to follow the seasons together—spring, summer, fall, and winter—and share the joy of haiku together as a community.
Requirements:
Anyone can submit haiku to the monthly challenge using the form below. To be considered for publication, your haiku must:
- Be written in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables:
Getting the syllables of a haiku to sit naturally inside of its seventeen-syllable form is the primary challenge. Each haiku is a word problem in search of a satisfying seventeen-syllable solution. - Contain the “season word” assigned for that month:
A haiku isn’t only a word problem. To the seventeen syllables the poet must add a turn of thought that results in more than seventeen syllables of meaning—along with a word that refers to one of the four seasons. How the poet uses “season words” like autumn sun or dew will typically determine the effectiveness of the poem.
Part of the reason haiku appeals to so many people is that its rules are simple and easy to follow, yet it can take a lifetime to master them. Ten million people currently write haiku in Japanese. There is no reason why millions can’t write haiku in English, too, provided they agree on the basics. The turn of thought you add to that simple formula of 5-7-5 syllables with a season word is entirely up to you.
Submissions close on the last day of the month at 11:59 pm ET, and the results will be posted the week after. Monthly submissions are anonymized and the winning poems are selected in a blind process.
To learn more about the history and principles of haiku, check out Clark Strand’s online course with Tricycle, “Learn to Write Haiku: Mastering the Ancient Art of Serious Play.”
This Month’s Season Word:
Submit as many haiku as you please using the submission form below. Just be sure to include this month’s season word.
Spring season word: “Robin”
to birth a robin
into this world means breaking
a piece of the sky
Submit as many haiku as you please on the season word “robin.” Your poems must be written in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively, and should focus on a single moment of time happening now.
Be straightforward in your description and try to limit your subject matter. Haiku are nearly always better when they don’t have too many ideas or images. So make your focus the season word* and try to stay close to that.
*REMEMBER: To qualify for the challenge, your haiku must be written in 5-7-5 syllables and include the word “robin.”
Haiku Tip: Enter a Yearly Contest!
Founded by Kiyoshi and Kiyoko Tokutomi in 1975, the California-based Yuki Teikei Haiku Society takes its name from a popular approach to writing haiku in modern-day Japan. Yuki means “with season,” while teikei means “having formal pattern.” Taken together, the words describe the two most familiar elements of haiku: the 5-7-5 syllable pattern and the use of season words. Since 1978, the society has sponsored an annual contest for formal haiku in English, for which the season words are pre-assigned.
In addition to the poems that you submit for our Tricycle Challenge this month, to hone your skills, you may wish to review the season words for the 2026 Kiyoshi & Kiyoko Tokutomi Memorial Haiku Contest and write haiku on any that resonate with you. From among those poems, choose your favorites to send to the contest following the submission guidelines on the society’s website. The deadline this year is April 30, and you can submit your haiku by email.
The Yuki Teikei approach to writing haiku was pioneered by Takahama Kyoshi (1874-1959), the most influential haiku teacher of the 20th century. Kyoshi wrote haiku as an objective sketch from nature and encouraged others to do the same. His “just-the-facts” approach to poetry became part of the DNA of modern haiku, and every poet can benefit from learning to write this way. Yuki Teikei haiku teach us how to convey subtle thoughts and feelings without stating them directly, relying on the images to speak for themselves.
A note on robin: Season word editor Becka Chester writes: “There are two species of robins, both of which are a type of thrush: the American, which grows to around ten inches in length, and its counterpart, the European, a bird slightly over one half the size of the other. Both creatures are distinguished by their rust-red breasts and are famous for their lovely song—a brief melodic warble followed by several extended diminishing notes. Often, this is the first sound heard in spring’s early morning hours. While the American robin constructs a nest of twigs lined with mud, and lays eggs of a bright blue-green hue, the European makes a similar style of nest, but fills it with feathers and produces eggs of a whitish color.”
In Haiku World, William J. Higginson explains the association of both species with springtime: “The European robin redbreast has been thought of as a spring bird throughout British literature, since it comes back to the Isles in spring. The American robin, even though overwintering throughout much of coastal and southern North America, retains the reputation. It tends to spend winter in the woods, living on berries, fruits, and nuts, and comes back to farms and towns in spring to feed on grubs, worms, and insects, when its cheery song announces the beginning of the mating season that characterizes spring in so many species.”
shut up and listen
i tell myself and it works
first robin of spring
January’s Winning Poem:
Winter season word: “The Old Year”
I was sound asleep
when the old year was replaced
with a replica
— Margaret Stawowy
You can find the honorable mentions, additional commentary, and January’s haiku tips here.
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Submission Form
