Haiku by Peter Lane (Nefyn, North Wales)

According to Wikipedia, haiku (plural haiku) is a very short form of Japanese poetry characterized by three qualities:

1. The essence of haiku is "cutting" (kiru). This is often represented by the juxtaposition of two images or ideas and a kireji ("cutting word") between them, a kind of verbal punctuation mark which signals the moment of separation and colours the manner in which the juxtaposed elements are related.
2. Traditional haiku consist of 17 on (also known as morae though often loosely translated as "syllables"), in three phrases of 5, 7, and 5 on, respectively.
3. A kigo (seasonal reference), usually drawn from a saijiki, an extensive but defined list of such terms.

In English, "haiku" is a term sometimes loosely applied to any short, impressionistic poem, but there are certain characteristics that are commonly associated with the genre:

• a focus on some aspect of nature or the seasons
• division into two asymmetrical sections, usually with a cut at the end of the first or second section, creating a juxtaposition of two subjects (e.g. something large and something small, something natural and something human-made, two unexpectedly similar things, etc.)
• a contemplative or wistful tone and an impressionistic brevity
• elliptical "telegram style" syntax and no superfluous words
• imagery predominates over ideas and statements, so that meaning is typically suggestive, requiring reader participation
• avoidance of metaphor and similes
• non-rhyming lines
• a three-line format with 17 syllables arranged in a 5-7-5 pattern; or about 10 to 14 syllables, which more nearly approximates the duration of a Japanese haiku with the second line usually the longest. Some poets want their haiku to be expressed in one breath
• little or no punctuation or capitalization, except that cuts are sometimes marked with dashes or ellipses and proper nouns are usually capitalized

My own preference is to add further colour to the words by using alliteration and assonance.

Petra

Sandcastles of rock
carved in Nabataean days
fuel Jordan's life.

Halloween

Imagination
rain-soaked beneath a darkling sky
conjures fell horrors.

The Needles

Jagged bird-topped teeth
erupt through sea, sun-baked blue -
beset by bum-boats.

Blue Mountains

Swirling world of mist -
half-hidden panorama
humid tree-fern framed.

Holywell Cabins

All of a'glitter
city lights from blue mountains -
sunset rum and view.

Kudu

Spiral-crowned bush-king
hobbles from the waterhole -
soon to be bush-prey.

Gemsbok

Double unicorn
displays his vee-shaped head-set -
the gem of the bush.

Elephant

Old white-crusted bull
browsing with his faithful friends -
wows the waiting crowd.

Rhinoceros

A sudden shape comes
to quench his long-suppressed thirst -
dipping his curved horn.

Addis Ababa

The moaning muezzin
fills the air with fantasy -
disturbs my drowsing.

Thankyou - or better
ah-ma-sa-gi-na-luh-hou
in Ethiopia.

Geladas

Thyme scents drowsy air -
sit quiet among monkeys
while time idles by.

Cladden Falls

Susurrating stream
etching rock with countless drops,
dancing down the cleft.

Rabbit Island

Lazy sea meets sand,
retreats and rolls back splashing -
crab darts to harvest.

Ta Prohm

Tortured-tree temple,
new roots opposing old stone -
carvings fall and fade.

Hang Sung Sot Caves

Cool calcite caverns -
Frozen flutes where water flowed
Year on countless years.

Halong Bay

Wave-carved crags of karst
tow'ring tall through green-sheened sea - 
tree-crowned, plastic-plagued.

Hoi An Old Quarter

Lantern-jewelled lanes -
bustling business either side
tempting tired tourists.

My Son

Time-worn teeth of brick
still close-fitted down the years -
ferns and moss bite back.

Boab

Bulbous, ageless tree
clutching brown-skinned at the sky:
are you upside-down?

Emma Gorge

Cool secluded pool,
chasm under crumbling cliff:
hold until I go.

Gibb River Road

Comfortable bus,
rumbling corrugated road -
blue sky over scrub.

Argyle Lake

A lake laps the hills
where once winding rivers ran,
slaking sandalwood.

Echidna Chasm

With water and time,
a quirk and a crack in rock
slice sandstone slowly.

Ceiba

Tree of Mayan life
rooting to the underworld
branching to the sky.

Tikal

Stone-hewn blocks lie steep
in ranks built over the old
to heart-wrenching peak.