Bit like mscharrer's, this approach can handle a very large set of records pretty efficiently. 

$/ = "\n\n";
rand($.) < 1 && ($haiku = $_) while <DATA>;
$haiku =~ s/\s+\z//; # instead of chomp, accounts for uneven final \n
print $haiku, "\n";

__DATA__
Even in Kyoto
hearing the cuckoo's cry--
I long for Kyoto.
    Basho

In the white plum blossoms
night to next day
just turning.
    Buson

[download]

Other advantage is it's basically WYSIWYG.

In reply to Re: General question about a haiku program by Your Mother
in thread General question about a haiku program by telemachus

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