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The Japanese Way

by Elisa: Snowman Stik

Rated: 18+ · Folder · Emotional · #801066

Every poet find his/her way to the Japanese forms...

I bet if you took a survey of poets, you'd find that at least one in five have written (or tried to write) a poem in a Japanese form. For me, my first experience writing poetry was with the haiku, which was back in sixth grade for reading class. It was a good haiku, but like some of my best poems, it is AWOL. Pity. In the meantime, I went beyond the haiku (both form and theme-wise). In here, you will find forms such as the Naga Uta, Dodoitsu and the Kyoka. Other forms may appear in the future, including the Tanka and the Choka.

First, "Invalid Item"

is a collection of senryus from my high school days written mostly after I survived said hellpit. High school was traumatizing at times, but I found that writing senryus about various aspects of it made the memories easier to bear.

Then there is "Imperfect World"

, essentially a poetic waxing from a democratic point of view. Am I a democrat? No. I really don't feel I "git" into a political party. Even so, I lament what has happened to the government of the United States, and the haibun captures my shameful disgust.

One day, I was flipping through b_boonstra's poetry form journal when I came across the Naga Uta. It seemed so easy, so I gave it a try. "My Defeat"

(my first effort) may have won a contest, but "Lust"

flows more smoothly in this form. I've since gone on to test the limits of this length with "Caress/Evade"

, which to my surprise has been successful.

On one of the poetry week's at The Writer's Cramp, one of the prompts involved the dodoitsu. Its length is little larger than a Dodo Bird's brain, but big things come in small packages. I let irony work its whiles in "Without You"

After perusing Dr M C Gupta

's collection of poems pertaining to the United States, I was inspired to try the kyoka form. "Truman's Folly"

is perhaps a bit mean spirited as a kyoka, but nonetheless, Harry S Truman is not revered in this quick poem.

Finally, I made a string of senryu for my beloved Peggy, who died in January 2005. In this chain senryu, I celebrate our bond throughout the nearly twenty years my Sissy was alive. Read about my darling Doggy in "Pegasus"

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