NPM 2022 - Day 12

Today's poem is written to a photograph of the art on a WWII plane. My father had an album of photographs from his time stationed in Hawaii during the war. We never knew it existed until after his death. The war was just not something he discussed. In the album, there were several pages of nose art, most of them half-naked pin-up girls.

This poem is written as a senryu. Senryu is a three line poem written in the 5-7-5 form like haiku. While haiku focus on nature, senryu focus on human foibles. You can read more about this form at How to Write Senryu Poems: Understanding the Senryu Form.

Visual marking on planes began in WWI as a means to help pilots separate friendly aircraft from foe. It evolved into an art form during WWII. You can learn more about it at Nose Art - The Most Unique Art By Pilots During WWII. 

I hope you'll come back tomorrow and see what new inspiration I've found for a poem. Until then, you may want to read previous poems in this series. I'm also sharing these poems on my Instagram in case you want to see them all in one place. 

April 1 - Senryu to a photo of my grandmother as a child
April 2 - Haiku to my mother's recipe
April 3 - Dodoitsu to a war memento
April 4 - Choka to my mother's engagement announcement
April 5 - Gogyohka to the receipt for my mother's engagement ring
April 6 - Senryu to a student's drawing of my dad
April 7 - Tanka to a photo of my grandmother and her mother by a car
April 8 - Dodoitsu to a piece of V-mail from my great uncle 
April 9 - Senryu to a Christmas card from Paris during the war (1944)
April 10 - Somonka to a war letter to my father
April 11 - Dodoitsu to an early family portrait of my mother