Although haiku must fight the inclusion of redundant words, as they are a form of poetry and not a zen mondo or koan they must also be aesthetically pleasing.
Here's a couple of quotes from Robert Spiess's "A Year's Speculations on Haiku" as they explain things better than I can. (By the way, this is a wonderful book and I would thoroughly recommend you purchase it if you have not already done so)
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November 10th
One of the qualities, generally speaking, of haiku should be that of "flow", not necessarily in the temporal sense but in the technique or mode of expression. Just as a stream needs banks in order to properly flow, a haiku needs form, limitations, so that it may have a full measure of effectiveness.
November 19th
There are those who regard haiku as a kind of "do your own thing" poem, and never consider its foundations. But the haiku, as soon as it goes beyond the beginner's efforts, becomes a matter incorporating traditions and established values, aesthetic and otherwise, and can not be written well outside them.
November 24th
The traditional values and characteristics of haiku are an admirable system of checks and balances for poets, especially for those having an iconoclastic attitude or proclivity; they are a guide and measure that are greater than the individual, as talented as he/she may fundamentally be.
December 19th
In haiku creation a light touch of artlessness is frequently desirable, but never at the expense of the overall aesthetic requirements of haiku.
December 29th
A genuine (i.e., aesthetic) haiku has what can probably only be termed an inherent felt-rhythm, a rhythm that is in concord with that which is portrayed in the haiku. When there is no intrinsic rhythm, but a disjointedness or separateness, the attempted haiku culminates in disorder and aesthetic incoherence.
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My comment:
So although it is necessary to trim redundant words from a haiku this should not be done at the expense of aesthetics. Haiku is a form of poetry and should read as such. Linked statements do not make an aesthetic poem. The "surprising truth" arising from two objects in juxtaposition or from deep empathy with a single object has to be expressed both with minimal redundancy and also aesthetically pleasingly. There must be a balance between the two.
Even in the few cases where Japanese haiku do not fit the 5,7,5 onji form they still have a rhythm approaching that of what would be gained in 5,7,5. Pay attention to rhythm and Beware of minimalism. (Not to be confused with eliminating redundancy)
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