To celebrate World Poetry Day on March 21st, we asked our followers on Twitter to send us their best haikus. Considering our dope community full of creators and artists, it came as no surprise that the Blavity Fam turned it out throughout the day. We’ve included some of the best haikus for World Poetry Day that were submitted to us. Not sure what a haiku is? We’ll also give a brief lesson in the art of the poem.

A haiku is a short form traditional Japanese poem. A standard Haiku is a 17-syllable verse consisting of three metrical units of 5, 7 and 5 syllables. It’s a simple form of poetry that can easily fit into the 140 character structure of Twitter.

@BlavityLive @Blavity
Breathing Soft heaviness
I sink deeper into you
We are closer now#haikuchallenge

— Lionhearted Gyal (@10LettersDeep) March 21, 2016

Haikus might seem basic or easy for people who are encountering them for the first time, but that’s not always the case. The haiku represents the art of simplicity in literature. On Twitter, it’s hard enough to have to write complete thoughts and ideas in 140 characters, but imagine having only about 30 characters to tweet with and then you can start to understand the challenge in crafting a beautiful and complex haiku.

The best advice I can give in going about creating your own haiku is to try to capture the essence of a moment or place. The most successful haikus are the ones that focus on the smallest details or ideas that we might overlook in our everyday lives.

@BlavityLive Here is my #WorldPoetryDay Haiku

The clouds whisk away
To a soft tempo gliding
This winters last nip

✌🏾

— Fadé O. (@ojfade) March 21, 2016

My Love is beauty.
My Life is uniquely mine.
My Black is divine
@BlavityLive #worldpoetryday

— Malliron (@Malachashi) March 21, 2016

@BlavityLive @Blavity
They have no limits
They pierce souls and human hearts
They are your kind words

— LisaWomanista_ABD (@Spiralchica) March 21, 2016

These are examples that focus on the essence of nature and human emotions, but as long as it follows the basic 5-7-5 structure haikus can be political, funny or even downright ratchet.

@BlavityLive skin’s dark as the night
soul’s brighter than light you are
black and beautiful

— Bethlehem (@bethgizaw) March 21, 2016

@BlavityLive @Blavity
I love my Afro.
Harsh wind does not disrupt her.
Dark black coils of joy. #haikuchallenge #WorldPoetryDay

— Padmé Amidollaz (@FyerandDesire) March 21, 2016

@BlavityLive @Blavity classisms bondage. A healthy outcry for help. Our black lives matter.

— Tanya Foxxy (@Ladytee75) March 21, 2016

.@BlavityLive #WorldPoetryDay

Black is beautiful.
Stronger every breath we take.
Melanin prevails.

— Raymahl Sutton (@ray_alexander_) March 21, 2016

White Supremacy.
Emerging At Trump Rallies.
We must Save Ourselves. #haikuchallenge #WorldPoetryDay

— Snapcht: ShizzyShane (@Shane_Jamal) March 21, 2016

The dip in my back
is a direct map for you
to follow and enjoy.#WorldPoetryDay #haikuchallenge

— Belle (@INeedja_Kadeeja) March 21, 2016

@BlavityLive 🙏🏽

How does one do it?
To stop feeding your demons
And kill the hunger.

A #haiku #WorldPoetryDay

— RUDE GYAL (@ninaamour) March 21, 2016

@BlavityLive
Confuse the babies
inject them with rabies as
Jim Crow loudly laughs #haiku

— Lukki S. (@LukkiMe) March 21, 2016

Losing momentum. Adulting can be so hard. Eyebrows fleeky though. https://t.co/xyYmRS2ABt

— Peaches Shabazz (@FloeticJustice7) March 21, 2016

@BlavityLive
All I want is you
To be embraced by you now
Why’d I leave you, bed!#WorldPoetryDay

— K C (@Dolly_Dagger718) March 21, 2016

@BlavityLive
my boo the scammer
stole my heart like leather pants
hashtag watch no face#hoodlovehaiku #dianehoney #mess #worldpoetryday

— HONEY (@DIANEXHONEY) March 21, 2016

What happened to Frank
The album has yet to drop
And boys are crying

😥#haikuchallenge #WorldPoetryDay @Blavity

— JTPK | SRLY (@AUXCORDQUEEN) March 21, 2016

@blavitylive

1001 ways
to relax read poetry
on instinct, today #WorldPoetryDay #HaikuChallenge

— gelle. (@gelle6) March 21, 2016

@BlavityLive I don’t drink kool-aid, that’s diabetes for real, pass me the water

— Steven Lamar (@TheRealCityHigh) March 22, 2016

As you can see in the awesome submissions above, haikus can be thought-provoking, calming, serious, funny and everything in between. It’s a great exercise to help you meditate on complex ideas and think about them in simple terms. We encourage everyone to try it!

Do you want to try writing a haiku? Tweet us or leave one in the comments below!

READ NEXT: Blavity talks performance poetry, going viral and HBO Def Jam with Button Poetry

haikus for world poetry day

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