The Japanese SENRYU has the same structure as a haiku, either three syllabic lines of 5-7-5 or 3-5-3. The difference between the two is that while a haiku is about nature and natural metaphor, the senryu is about the doings of humans. Where haiku are serious, senryu are considered to be comic, satirical, or parody.


Example by Charles L. Weatherford:

Caligula

Little feet
seldom seem serene
above me.
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Example 2 by Jacquii Cooke:

Untitled

He's nappy.
Head of purple hair
defines naught.