Alan, it is not really an issue of abandoning. As you probably know, there is traditionally no punctuation in Japanese, so it would be more "traditional" not to use punctuation in haiku. Japanese has "words" that make up part of the "syllable" count that take the place of some of our uses of punctuation in the poems to divide the images or add weight to one part of the poem. (That is why if you want to use "traditional" form, you should also count each use of punctuation as a syllable!) Punctuation is generally used in haiku when it has something to add to the poem. Dashes, semicolons, and colons are used to separate the images of the poem, depending on the effect one is striving to attain. Periods are the most rarely used of all punction, and only when they have specific purpose, as in the following:
his side of it.
her side of it.
winter silence
Notice that the punctuation becomes a part of the message of the poem, both by its presence and its absence. It is not an empty marker.
All that said, go ahead and capitalize the first letter of your haiku and put a period at the end if you want. Once again, I am not suggesting that there is an absolute prohibition against it.
Lee
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