Assignment 2: History and Structure of Haiku

Doing some research on haiku, I've found that the common definition includes a few factors. The setup for film haiku will be quite different, of course, but it'll be interesting to allude to the formal written structure of a haiku.
First is the basic format of syllables:

7
5
7

The next is that it includes a season word, or reference to the natural world, a nature sketch in words.
Commas, hyphens, elipses, and implied breaks are important between each line.
They can be as short as an individual 7-5-7 "renga", or be sets of up to 100.
The purpose of a short haiku is to be short, exasperated: can be said in one breath, expresses a moment's sponteneity. An

"intimate sharing of an ordinary moment".

Where all of life is summed up in those few seconds of words. Haiku is largely connected to Eastern philosophy and Buddhism, the goal of enlightenment... It has a very suggestive nature. D.T. Suzuki, an important person in the spread of haiku to the western world, explained the purpose of its ambiguity:

"When something is too fully expressed, there's no room for suggestion."

One of the original haiku writers was a painter, seen clearly in his ways of purposefully arranging scenes in words.
In Japanese, the original language of haiku, the 7-5-7 syllabic pattern is comparable to rhyme in the English language. Some writers have translated Japanese haiku into English by discarding the 7-5-7 pattern and illustrating the idea through rhyme instead.

Many contemporary poets have tried their hand at writing haiku; however, many of them do so in a largely uninformed manner, straying from the highly nuanced and complex nature of the art of haiku. In order to be effective, I see, it's important to become familiar with at least some of the history and prose of haikus, and try to understand its power in complexity.

I've checked out a book from Jack Kerouac, the "On the Road" author I loved and learned while haiku researching was a major Beat haiku artist at the head of the "haiku movement" that hit full-on in the early 60s. I like the take he took on haiku, making it his own, taking advantage of its spontaneous nature that implied depth within a perfect simplicity. He tossed out the 7-5-7 syllable format, saying western haiku didn't need it, just three lines that "say a great deal". I find that most of the haikus I fumbled through seemed to be overly symbolistic, esoteric... like they were trying too hard, and were far too vague. Kerouac's haikus are beautifully simple and convey a universal feeling, free of the triteness my cynicism seems to pick out easily in many other haiku. He said specifically that haiku ought to be:
"Very simple, and free of all poetic trickery."

Here are some of my favorites:

Useless, useless,
the heavy rain
Driving into the sea.

Missing a kick
at the icebox door
It closed anyway.

Evening coming --
the office girl
Unloosing her scarf.

Some other ones I found online:

The bottoms of my shoes
are clean
from walking in the rain.

Glow worm
sleeping on this flower -
your light's on.

Snap your finger
stop the world -
rain falls harder.

All day long
wearing a hat
that wasn't on my head.