Poetry Friday - More Primary Source Poems

I'm still working my way through family documents and still writing every day, though not strictly in Japanese poetic forms as I did for this year's National Poetry Month project on poems and primary sources.

Here are the poems I've written for May 1-6. (Click images to enlarge for a better view of the documents.)

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup. Happy poetry Friday friends. 

NPM 2022 - April 30

I can't believe it's the last day of April. Where has the month gone? I feel like I have so many more primary sources to share.

Today's poem is written to a photo of my brother and sister with our Semmelmayer cousins. This was taken Christmas day, 1960, five years before I came along. I missed some awfully good times. 

This poem is written as a choka. The choka is a Japanese form of unrhymed alternating five and seven syllable lines that ends with an extra seven syllable line. It can be any odd number of lines. You can learn more about this form at Poets Collective.

Here is a listing of all the poems I've written this month. I've also shared these poems on my Instagram, which is a good place to go to see them altogether. 

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
April 12 - Senryu to a photo of WWII nose art 
April 13 - Senryu to a pair of postage stamps issued in 1934
April 14 - Somonka to a war letter to my father
April 15 - Senryu to a photo of my mother as a child 
April 16 - Senryu to an Easter card my grandmother sent my grandfather
April 17 - Senryu to an Easter card my grandfather sent my grandmother
April 18 - Tanka to a First Day Cover celebrating NATO's 10th anniversary (1959)
April 19 - Somonka to my grandparent's wedding photo 
April 20 - Dodoitsu to a list my grandfather made of the cars he owned 
April 21 - Haibun to a newspaper story about a car accident my father was in
April 22 - Tanka to a newspaper masthead from NAAS Jacksonville (1945) 
April 23 - Senryu to my grandfather's christening photo (1899)
April 24 - Senryu to a photo of my father and his parents at the beach (1929)
April 25 - Senryu to a letter my father's sister sent him during the way (1945)  
April 26 - Senryu to a button envelop (1950) 
April 27 - Sedoka to a photo of my grandfather and his twin sister 
April 28 - Senryu to my dad's navy photo 
April 29 - Dodoitsu to a family photo (1946)

Poetry Friday - Poetry Sisters Write In the Style of Taylor Mali

This month the challenge was to write in the style of Taylor Mali. If you've ever seen the video What Do Teacher's Make, you know who he is. Mali is largely a spoken word poet. When you read his print poems, they are long and recursive. I wasn't sure I'd be able to pull off a poem like this, so I went to his Writing Exercises page and found a poem on the Rhyme Time Lesson that I thought would be good to emulate. The directions were to use his poem as a model, and then write about "thoughts, memories, fears, joys, and mostly OBJECTS that generally fill your head each day." His model poem is really a list poem. I didn't follow his directions exactly, but I'm not too far off. 

Insomnia Brain Remembers

When I can’t sleep at night and my brain won’t shut down

I feel like a tourist in memory town

Remembering people, places, and more

Reliving the bits that will not be ignored

     My grandmother Stohr in her yellow housecoat

     The day I was published for something I wrote

     My father’s wry wit, my mother’s quick laugh

     The first time my son fed a captive giraffe

     The day that my sister packed up and moved out

     The first job after college that filled me with doubt

     The yellow VW owned by my brother

     The last day in June when I lost my mother

     The mountains, Tibet, and the glorious view

     Sundays in church on a hard wooden pew

     The first day of school when I started to teach

     The jar of treats grandma kept high out of reach

     The winter the dog was found caught in a trap

     Charting our trips on an unfolded map

Try too hard to rest and it all rushes back

But I’ve lived and been loved, so there’s nothing I lack

     (only sleep!)

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2022. All rights reserved.

You can read the pieces written by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. 

• Tanita Davis
• Mary Lee Hahn
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Kelly Ramsdell
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon
• Andi Sibley

Would you like to try the next challenge? Next month we are writing poems using the words or theme of string/thread/rope/chain. We hope you'll join us. Are you in? Good! You’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on May 27th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems! 

In addition to today's Poetry Sister collaboration, I'm close to wrapping up my National Poetry Month where I'm writing poems in Japanese poetic forms to primary sources. Today's poem is written to a family photo. I'm also sharing these poems on my Instagram in case you want to see them all in one place. 

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Jone MacCulloch. Happy poetry Friday friends. 

Poetry Friday: NPM 2022 - Day 29

Today's poem is written to a photo of my grandparents, great grandmother, and great aunt and uncle. The back of the photo is stamped June 17, 1946. 

This poem is written as a dodoitsu. I haven't really followed the form too well this time.  While I have followed the pattern (a 4-line poem with a syllable count of 7-7-7-5), I have not focused on "love or work with a comical twist." The post What is a Dodoitsu? contains more information about this Japanese form.

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
April 12 - Senryu to a photo of WWII nose art 
April 13 - Senryu to a pair of postage stamps issued in 1934
April 14 - Somonka to a war letter to my father
April 15 - Senryu to a photo of my mother as a child 
April 16 - Senryu to an Easter card my grandmother sent my grandfather
April 17 - Senryu to an Easter card my grandfather sent my grandmother
April 18 - Tanka to a First Day Cover celebrating NATO's 10th anniversary (1959)
April 19 - Somonka to my grandparent's wedding photo 
April 20 - Dodoitsu to a list my grandfather made of the cars he owned 
April 21 - Haibun to a newspaper story about a car accident my father was in
April 22 - Tanka to a newspaper masthead from NAAS Jacksonville (1945) 
April 23 - Senryu to my grandfather's christening photo (1899)
April 24 - Senryu to a photo of my father and his parents at the beach (1929)
April 25 - Senryu to a letter my father's sister sent him during the way (1945)  
April 26 - Senryu to a button envelop (1950) 
April 27 - Sedoka to a photo of my grandfather and his twin sister 
April 28 - Senryu to my dad's navy photo 

In addition to today's National Poetry Month poem, I'm also in with the poetry sisters challenge to write in the style of Taylor Mali. You can find my poem here.

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Jone MacCulloch. Happy poetry Friday friends. 

NPM 2022 - Day 28

Today's poem is written to my father's navy photo. I didn't often see him write his full name, so it makes we wonder if my grandmother called him Frederick.

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 senryu at How to Write Senryu Poems: Understanding the Senryu Form.

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
April 12 - Senryu to a photo of WWII nose art 
April 13 - Senryu to a pair of postage stamps issued in 1934
April 14 - Somonka to a war letter to my father
April 15 - Senryu to a photo of my mother as a child 
April 16 - Senryu to an Easter card my grandmother sent my grandfather
April 17 - Senryu to an Easter card my grandfather sent my grandmother
April 18 - Tanka to a First Day Cover celebrating NATO's 10th anniversary (1959)
April 19 - Somonka to my grandparent's wedding photo 
April 20 - Dodoitsu to a list my grandfather made of the cars he owned 
April 21 - Haibun to a newspaper story about a car accident my father was in
April 22 - Tanka to a newspaper masthead from NAAS Jacksonville (1945) 
April 23 - Senryu to my grandfather's christening photo (1899)
April 24 - Senryu to a photo of my father and his parents at the beach (1929)
April 25 - Senryu to a letter my father's sister sent him during the way (1945)  
April 26 - Senryu to a button envelop (1950) 
April 27 - Sedoka to a photo of my grandfather and his twin sister

NPM 2022 - Day 27

Today's poem is written to a photo of my grandfather and his twin sister. Born in 1899, my guess is that this photo was taken when they were 3 or 4. I wish it had a date. My grandfather had 6 siblings, his twin Edna, and 5 other sisters. Twenty years separated Mamie, the oldest born in 1888, from Dorothy, the youngest born in 1908.  

This poem is (loosely) written as a sedoka. Sedoka is a form that contains two stanzas, each a Katauta with a syllable pattern of 5-7-7. The first generally asks a question and the second answers. These poems were generally question and answer conversations between lovers with the stanzas being written by different people. You can learn more about the sedoka at Writer's Digest or Shadow Poetry.

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
April 12 - Senryu to a photo of WWII nose art 
April 13 - Senryu to a pair of postage stamps issued in 1934
April 14 - Somonka to a war letter to my father
April 15 - Senryu to a photo of my mother as a child 
April 16 - Senryu to an Easter card my grandmother sent my grandfather
April 17 - Senryu to an Easter card my grandfather sent my grandmother
April 18 - Tanka to a First Day Cover celebrating NATO's 10th anniversary (1959)
April 19 - Somonka to my grandparent's wedding photo 
April 20 - Dodoitsu to a list my grandfather made of the cars he owned 
April 21 - Haibun to a newspaper story about a car accident my father was in
April 22 - Tanka to a newspaper masthead from NAAS Jacksonville (1945) 
April 23 - Senryu to my grandfather's christening photo (1899)
April 24 - Senryu to a photo of my father and his parents at the beach (1929)
April 25 - Senryu to a letter my father's sister sent him during the way (1945)  
April 26 - Senryu to a button envelop (1950)

NPM 2022 - Day 26

Today's poem is written to an envelope with buttons inside. That is my mother's handwriting on the outside. She would have been 20 when her grandmother died. I have no way of knowing if she made this note at the time of her grandmother's death or some time later. This small remembrance of my mother's grandmother got me thinking about my grandmothers, both of whom are described in this poem.

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 senryu at How to Write Senryu Poems: Understanding the Senryu Form.

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
April 12 - Senryu to a photo of WWII nose art 
April 13 - Senryu to a pair of postage stamps issued in 1934
April 14 - Somonka to a war letter to my father
April 15 - Senryu to a photo of my mother as a child 
April 16 - Senryu to an Easter card my grandmother sent my grandfather
April 17 - Senryu to an Easter card my grandfather sent my grandmother
April 18 - Tanka to a First Day Cover celebrating NATO's 10th anniversary (1959)
April 19 - Somonka to my grandparent's wedding photo 
April 20 - Dodoitsu to a list my grandfather made of the cars he owned 
April 21 - Haibun to a newspaper story about a car accident my father was in
April 22 - Tanka to a newspaper masthead from NAAS Jacksonville (1945) 
April 23 - Senryu to my grandfather's christening photo 
April 24 - Senryu to a photo of my father and his parents at the beach (1929)
April 25 - Senryu to a letter my father's sister sent him during the way (1945) 

NPM 2022 - Day 25

Today's poem is written to a letter my Aunt Lois sent my father when we was stationed in Hawaii during the war. Her letters are filled with stories about school, what music she's listening to, how she's earning money, what she's saving for, and so much more. Many of them open with her addressing him as something other than Fred. 

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 senryu at How to Write Senryu Poems: Understanding the Senryu Form.

I'm sad that the ink has faded in spots, making parts of the letter hard to read. You can see it below if you want to see it in its entirety.

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
April 12 - Senryu to a photo of WWII nose art 
April 13 - Senryu to a pair of postage stamps issued in 1934
April 14 - Somonka to a war letter to my father
April 15 - Senryu to a photo of my mother as a child 
April 16 - Senryu to an Easter card my grandmother sent my grandfather
April 17 - Senryu to an Easter card my grandfather sent my grandmother
April 18 - Tanka to a First Day Cover celebrating NATO's 10th anniversary (1959)
April 19 - Somonka to my grandparent's wedding photo 
April 20 - Dodoitsu to a list my grandfather made of the cars he owned 
April 21 - Haibun to a newspaper story about a car accident my father was in
April 22 - Tanka to a newspaper masthead from NAAS Jacksonville (1945) 
April 23 - Senryu to my grandfather's christening photo 
April 24 - Senryu to a photo of my father and his parents at the beach (1929)