Senryū (川柳) is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku in construction: three lines with 17 morae (or on, often translated as syllables, but see the article on onji for distinctions).
Like haiku, senryū originated as an opening part (hokku) of a larger Japanese poem called renga.
[citation needed] A typical example from the collection: 泥棒を 捕えてみれば 我が子なり dorobō o toraete mireba wagako nari When I catch, The robber, my own son This senryū, which can also be translated "Catching him / I see the robber / is my son," is not so much a personal experience of the author as an example of a type of situation (provided by a short comment called a maeku or fore-verse, which usually prefaces a number of examples) and/or a brief or witty rendition of an incident from history or the arts (plays, songs, tales, poetry, etc.).
[4] かくれんぼ 三つ数えて 冬になる kakurenbo mittsu kazoete fuyu ni naru Hide and seek Count to three Winter comes The first senryū circle in the United States was reportedly started by Japanese immigrants in Yakima, Washington, during the early 1900s.
The Haiku Society of America holds the annual Gerald Brady Memorial Award for best unpublished senryū.