I've found another new form that I would like to try this week. It's called hay(na)ku and was created in 2003 by poet Eileen Tabios. Here are the guidelines.
Hay(na)ku is a 3-line poem of six words with one word in the first line, two words in the second, and three in the third. There are no other rules and no restrictions on number of syllables or rhyme.
Need some examples? You can find some Hay(na)ku poetry contest winners at the Hay(na)ku Poetry blog. There is also a thoughtful essay about the form at Dragoncave.
As you'll see from the examples, some folks create poems comprised of several hay(na)ku strung together. So, what kind of hay(na)ku will you write? Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.
Fascinating.I found by using contractions, hyphenations, I could accomplish an actual poem. Here goes:
ReplyDeleteThe Widow Speaks
Husband,
Come back.
I miss you.
These
One-way conversations
Satisfy no one.
If
You cannot
Come to me,
I
Must go
Underground to you.
Your
Gray stone
Beckons to me,
The
Words written
On its surface
A
Printed invitation.
Here’s my RSVP.
I
Will not
Be too long.
Good
ReplyDeletemorning Tricia
I finally Stretch!
before
trying hay(na)ku
must make lunches
tofu
soy sauce
storebought chocolate pudding
Turkey
ReplyDeletesits waiting
frozen solid, wrapped
in
plastic. Innards
removed except for
liver,
gizzard, and
heart soon to
become
additions to
gravy, stuffing, or
kept
for the
dog's thanksgiving treat.
I
ask: what
would the Pilgrims
think
about our
idea of thanks?
This was fun! Have a great holiday, everyone!
Oh yay, Heidi's here! :) Okay, here's my gray Monday morning contribution:
ReplyDeleteOne
leaf, shaken
by windy envy.
One
bird, rewriting
a November sky.
One
sound, alarm
clock prodding me.
One
good morning
in the mirror.
One
pillow, making
half a bed.
One
lunch beside
the front door.
One
bowl, one
spoon and cup.
Sometimes
I forget
lonely, but then
Some
days it
eats me up.
--Kate Coombs (Book Aunt), 2009
Wow, Kate--just wow!
ReplyDeleteJane
Thanks, Jane. I have to tell you, I keep sending your grief poems to my mom, who lost my dad nearly five years ago and formed a small grief group of widows. She became somewhat less lost and stricken only last spring. (They were married 49 years, with big plans for their 50th that never happened.) It strikes me as strange that she and I, the seemingly always married and the never married, live a similar, why-bother-cooking-for-one lifestyle now.
ReplyDeleteVery touching poetry, ladies.
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving.
Time to
Stuff the turkey.
Holidays.
Time to
Stuff the human.
January.
Time to
Start your diet!
--Kelly Polark, 2009.
Jane and Kate - such incredible poems this week!
ReplyDeleteMine is long; it's an answer to the question, "How can you stand it when your husband deploys?"
When
You leave
A hole remains
Email
Does not
Fill it, or
Photographs,
Or the
Love notes you
Tucked
Away in
Secret hiding places.
How
can you
love a job
That
takes you
so far away?
I
Picture you
In the desert,
Doing
The job
You trained for.
The
Work you
Do in far-off
Places –
It matters
To us both.
“When
Will daddy
Be back home?”
The
Children ask.
We count down
Months
And days
On calendar squares.
Our
Family is
Like the moon
Waxing
And waning
Through your seasons
It
Has its
Own special rhythm
Daddy
Here, daddy
There, daddy home.
When
You leave
A hole remains
But
Our love
Fills it up.
--Easter
I love this new form and all the posted poems, especially ones that lay their grief and longings bare. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteSTIRS UP MEMORIES
I
miss Mom
as the holidays
come
upon us.
The thought of
her
easy laugh
and the sweet
scent
she wore
stirs up memories.
I
can smell
her creamed onions
drifting
through the
house as I
peel
the skins
of those small
white
elliptic beauties
ready to drop
them
into a pot
that she once
used
knowing full
well her redolent
essence
will infuse
this reminiscent dish.
© Carol Weis. All rights reserved.
I think I agree with Carol. The short lines makes the grief and longing somehow more palpable. As if the poet is breathing shallowly, trying to contain the emotion.
ReplyDeleteJane
Wow, Kate - nice poem.
ReplyDeleteI challenged some students recently to write a nursery rhyme and to strange it up, give it the weird feel that some old nursery rhymes have. And when I ask my students to do it, I think I should try. Kate's "One..." poem above made me think I should try a counting rhyme:
Ten
leaves falling,
nine hang on,
Eight
winds blowing -
going, going, gone.
Seven
to Heaven.
Six to sea.
Five
says Four,
please marry me.
Three
leaf babies
in a swirl,
Two
Leaf Boys,
one Leaf Girl.
----------------------
(Gad...Paradise couldn't be better than lunch recess and a jump rope, could it? )
I really like Jane's breathing analogy, also Julie's "stranging it up," which makes me want to write a nursery rhyme. They really are weird, aren't they? Thanks for the compliment, Julie. And on the subject of thankfulness, thanks to Tricia for giving us a cool little poetry workshop. Sometimes I get so caught up in my longer writing that I forget to write poems, which is a Bad Thing. Happy Thanksgiving to all you Stretchers! (Hmm. Perhaps a better nickname. The Rubber Band? Bubble Gums?)
ReplyDeleteI'll echo Kate's praise for poets stretching here and thanks to Tricia for making Mondays fun. Must go bake my back-up turkey now! Happy Thanksgiving, All!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazingly freeing but powerful form that I look forward to playing with more. All the previous poems are so wonderful! I'm trying just a few quick ones but I will continue to work with this form as it is close to the haiku which I enjoy. I loved the idea of reversing the order.
ReplyDeletejangled leash calls
snoring dog
awake
***
grandmother's rosewater perfume
calls back
yesterday
***
families
gather happily
but not mine
mine
pretend invisibility
breaking grandma's heart
***
I've repeatedly tried to write something thankful, but the only words that come out are lose of loss.
ReplyDeleteImpossible
is bringing
my father back
but
that’s exactly
what I want
one
more day
alone with him
watching
his strong
hands at work
listening
to strains
of Dixieland jazz
silently
working together
side by side
Difficult
is filling
the enormous hole
In
my heart
and our family
Thank you all for coming back so often and sharing your work. Your poems inspire and keep me writing.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
The poems are wonderful. It's amazing how much can be said with a few short lines. My pies are in the oven so I thought I'd see what I could come up with.
ReplyDeleteAn Invitation
Children
now grown-
far from home.
Sharing
this holiday
with their in-laws.
Spending
our first
year without them.
Might
be fun-
trying something new.
Thanksgiving
for two-
How about it?
You
and me-
dinner by candlelight?
The Hunger Games
ReplyDeleteBy Suzanne Collins
A
new continent
has been born
The
name of
it is Panem
A
country of
cruelty and poverty
The
leaders have
brought Hunger Games
Where
Children must
fight to death.
My
sister was
chosen for it
A
weak,twelve
year-old girl
So
I volunteered
to replace her
Now,
I will
fight for survival
I
can only
hope to live.
Poem By Meredy
Poem by Hannah Wallace
ReplyDeleteThe Truth About Forever
by Sarah Dessen
The
best dad
I could've had.
Without
him here
no more running
The
"Oh, poor-dear"
face I hate
I'm
secretly hiding
dad's infomerical orders
Jason
at camp
long summer ahead
Email
checking miss
you a lot
Taking
break over
"I love you"
Library
job boring
Wish Catering exciting
Caroline
thinking redo
the beach house