In this episode of the Poetry Pea Podcast, we explore why haiku has often been described as "the poetry of the noun" and ask whether removing verbs and limiting adjectives can make a poem even more powerful.

Through close readings of haiku by John Wills, Elizabeth Searle Lamb, Charles Rossiter, Noel King, Choshi, Anne Curran, and Bisshie, we discover how concrete nouns create atmosphere, emotion and meaning without explanation. We look at Edward Hirsch's idea of the "arrested moment" and Michael Dylan Welch's advice to write not about your feelings, but about what caused them.

Can a poem made almost entirely of nouns hold a reader's attention? Can omission create deeper emotional resonance than description? And how we should trust readers to make their own connections?

If you write or love haiku, senryū, Japanese poetry, imagist poetry, or minimalist writing, this episode offers practical insights and examples to inspire your own work.

Plus, there's a new writing challenge: can you create a noun-heavy, no-verb haiku that invites the reader to join the dots? If you can get it to me by the 16th June, 2026 it might make it into another podcast and the next journal.

Join us for an episode about the remarkable power of concrete imagery.

Links in the show notes

In this episode of the Poetry Pea Podcast, Patricia shares a fresh collection of haiku and senryu from Poetry Pea’s much-loved Flashku submissions — a spontaneous 24-hour poetry challenge open to poets on the Poetry Pea mailing list.

Featuring poems by Nalini Shetty, Robert Witmer, Sébastien Revon, Emil Karla, Steve Bahr, Katie Montagna, Deborah A Bennett, Samo Kreutz, Cynthia Anderson, Sara Winteridge, John Hare, Mark Forrester, Robin Rich, Tony Williams, Vaishnavi Ramaswamy and Elliot Diamond

Along the way there’s a heartfelt apology to Ralph Matthews for previously misspelling his name in the journal — now happily corrected.

The episode finishes with a delightful selection of one-line poems from the Poetry Pea archives and the Little Marvels anthologies, including work by Lev Hart, Kim Klugh, Nitu Yumnam, Sarah Paris, Srinivas S, Faye Brinsmead, Kat Lehmann, Willie R Bongcaron, Daniela Misso, Rashmi VeSa, Debbie Strange, Craig Kittner and Anjali Warhadpande.

If you enjoy small poems filled with observation, atmosphere and quiet surprise, this episode is for you.

Submissions for Poetry Pea’s current one-line poem window are open until 15th June. Visit the Poetry Pea website for details, workshops, submission opportunities and the latest Submission Agenda.

Episode webpage

In this episode of the Poetry Pea Podcast, we share the chosen poems from April’s Poetry Pea Video Prompt, beautifully curated by Lakshmi Iyer.

Inspired by pink skies, cricket song, twilight gardens, and fleeting moments of light, these poems explore the quiet beauty of the natural world through haiku and short-form poetry.

Featuring poems by Marion Clarke, Ralph Mathews, Kerry J Heckman, Melissa Dennison, Vaishnavi Ramaswamy, Anne Curran, Kendall Oei, Jonathan Blakeslee, Hifsa Ashraf, Kim Klugh, Tom Bierovic, Veronica Tucker, Jennifer L. Black, Tony Williams, and more.

We also include a special selection of bonus poems from Poetry Pea, Frogpond, Presence, and the wider haiku community.

Whether you’re a poet, a poetry lover, or simply looking for a few moments of calm, settle in and enjoy this celebration of contemporary haiku, senryu, and micropoetry.

Subscribe, share, and visit Poetry Pea to join our growing poetry community.

Episode notes

In this final episode of Poetry Pea’s series on lyricism in haiku and senryū, Patricia explores contemporary poems that sing—haiku and senryū rich in musicality, emotional resonance, and soaring beauty.

With recommendations and insights from some poetry friends, we journey through lyrical work from some of today’s finest poets, asking what makes a haiku truly resonate. Is it sound, rhythm, imagery—or something harder to define? Do we come up with the answer?

From birdsong and flowing rivers to moonlight, frost and bending grass, this episode celebrates poems that move us deeply without sentimentality, reminding us how much can be achieved with just a few carefully chosen words.

Don't forget to check the shownotes.

This episode of the Poetry Pea Podcast continues an exploration of lyrical haiku and senryū in the English language, with a focus on work written before the year 2000. What makes a haiku “lyrical”? Not overblown emotion or elaborate language, but a quieter musicality—rhythm, emotional restraint, and an image that’s allowed to resonate.

This episode offers a thoughtful introduction to earlier contemporary haiku, setting the stage for a later look at more recent voices, in the next episode, do please join us.

If you’re interested in poetry that values subtlety, attention, and the music of the spoken word, this is a good place to begin.

This week on The Poetry Peacast, we drift into a river-inspired collection of haiku and senryu from our March video prompt. While Patricia is (technically) in Zürich, today’s episode is carried by the warm currents of South Africa, where the original footage was filmed during a memorable family trip.

The poems featured here have been carefully edited and curated by Johnny Moran—thank you, Johnny—and capture a range of voices responding to water, movement, and the quiet details that make haiku and senryu so powerful.

Congratulations to the poets whose work is included in this episode. Their poems will also appear in the upcoming issue of the 1:26 poetry journal.

In this episode:

• A showcase of original haiku and senryu
• Poetry inspired by rivers, travel, and observation
• Reflections on the March Poetry Pea video prompt
• Community voices from poets around the world

If you enjoy the podcast, you can support us by becoming a member, buying us a coffee, or making a donation via PayPal—all through our website. You can also help by sharing the podcast with your poetry friends and on social media.

And yes—there’s a brief (and heartfelt) nod to Crystal Palace’s latest semi-final. Fingers firmly crossed.

Subscribe to stay up to date with weekly poetry prompts, haiku, senryu, and readings.

Keep writing.

Featured Poets

March Video Prompt

Herb Tate

Neena Singh

David Cox

Jennifer L. Blanck

Mona Bedi

Jacob Blumner

Lakshmi Iyer India

Melissa Dennison

Ralph Matthews

Joshua gage

Christopher Seep

Vaishnavi Ramaswamy

Alicia Samson

Rohan Buettel

Tony Williams

Bonus poetry

Robert Kingston, PPJ Autumn 2021

Mark Gilbert, PPJ Autumn 2021

Anne Morrigan, PPJ 2:23

MartinLucas from Freewheeling

Brett Brady, PPJ 2021

John Hawkhead, PPJ Autumn 2020

Edward Cody Huddleston, Autumn 2020

In this episode of the Poetry Pea Podcast, we continue our exploration of lyrical poetry with a journey into the work of the Japanese haiku masters. From Bashō and Buson to Issa and Shiki, and their contemporaries, we listen to classic haiku in translation and consider how sound, rhythm and imagery carry emotional resonance across centuries.

Following last week’s episode on the eighteenth-century female poet, Chyio-ni, today we turn to the male masters and their friends and contemporaries. These poems span stillness, seasonal awareness, humour, melancholy and the fleeting beauty at the heart of haiku. Expect frogs, evening breezes, cherry blossom, mountain mist and the famous old pond — along with the rarely heard response verse from its original renku.

All poems are read in English translation, allowing the musicality and lyricism of classical Japanese haiku to shine through for modern listeners. If you love haiku, Japanese poetry, short-form poetry, or want inspiration for your own writing, this episode offers a rich selection from some of the greatest poets in the tradition.

Don’t forget to add your poem to this month’s Poetry Pea video prompt in the comments on the channel, and support the podcast if you can.

Links to the poems mentioned are in the show notes.

In this episode of Poetry Pea, I explore the haiku of Chiyo-ni, the 18th-century Japanese poet and Buddhist nun whose lyrical voice is often overlooked when we talk about the great haiku masters. While Bashō, Buson, Shiki and Issa are regularly discussed, Chiyo-ni’s work often takes a back seat.

Prompted by recent conversations about the perceived lack of lyrical poetry in modern haiku, I look at what “lyrical” might mean in the context of haiku. For me, lyrical poetry creates an emotional connection without sentimentality, often supported by musicality, rhythm and the spoken quality of the words. Through a selection of Chiyo-ni’s poems, presented in English translation, I explore how her work achieves this balance with delicacy and restraint.

You’ll hear a range of Chiyo-ni’s haiku, including the well-known morning glory poem, alongside lesser-known pieces that reveal her attentiveness to nature, human feeling and fleeting moments. I also discuss the challenges of translation and how different versions of the same poem can alter tone, rhythm and emotional impact.

I’m also inviting you to take part:

• What does “lyrical” mean to you in haiku?

• Do you think lyrical poetry is missing from contemporary English-language haiku?

• Send me your favourite lyrical haiku (with citations) for possible inclusion in a future episode.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting Poetry Pea with a membership, a coffee, or sharing it with your poetry friends.

You can also join the mailing list to stay updated with future episodes.

Show notes