The word "haiku" consists of two syllables: The term "introduction" contains four syllables in Hai-ku: in-tro-duc-tion. "Haiku" is a kind of traditional Japanese poetry. Haiku poems include three lines. A haiku's first and last lines are 5 syllables long, while the middle line is 7 syllables long. The lines almost never rhyme. Instead, the poet uses punctuation to indicate where one line ends and the next begins. Syllable count is very important in haiku. This is because each line of a haiku should contain the same number of syllables. If a line has more or less syllables than another line, then it doesn't make sense grammatically. For example, if you say "I love you baby," then this line needs to have eight syllables instead of six. A good rule of thumb is that if you think about how you would say the word out loud, then you're close enough! Here are some examples of haiku: Moonlight / on the mountain / my house - dark now but I know that soon it will be light Spring rain / falls into the pond / fish jump up - happy they have water to drink Autumn leaves / float down the stream / birds eat them - show how delicious fruit can be