Haiku, Kigo and the English Language

[ellajam]

Thanks for all the interesting responses. I've been thinking of the why of kigo and I've come to its ability to bring the reader to a specific time/place, to invoke a memory that sits in the reader that will bring him halfway to where the poet is. The lists seem pretty meaningless to me, including everything or using 2 English words to define one Japanese word.

So I think I'll chuck the list and make sure there's a least one word that performs the trick.

From what I understand a haiku ideally pivots on the second line, tanka again on the third. Do you think the dash after the second line is needed, or nice? Should the reader automatically see the turn without it?