Friday, April 01, 2022

Poetry Friday and NPM 2022 - Day 1

This year for National Poetry Month I'm sharing original poems written in a variety of Japanese poetic forms (haiku, tanka, dodoitsu, etc.) to primary sources. I'm using photos, letters, newspaper articles, and more to inspire my writing.

This first poem is written to a photograph of my grandmother Gmelin (Marie) and her brothers Earl (the tall one, as noted by my mother on the back of the photo) and Jerry.

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. In the meantime, I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Heidi Mordhorst of my juicy little universe. Happy poetry Friday friends. 

13 comments:

  1. Yes, that bow does outshine them all! What a wonderful heirloom photo.

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  2. That bow is freaking amazing. "You will not ignore me." <3

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    1. I wish I had thought to use that as a line in this poem!

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  3. That is a heck of a bow!!! I wonder how long it stayed there! Long enough for the photo anyway! I can't wait to read more of your poems.

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  4. That bow is a scene-stealer! It's a good thing her brothers weren't shorter.
    Fun project!

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  5. That BOW!! Why would you even?

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  6. This is so great! Love the poem and photo--perfect pairing.

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  7. Ha! How big can a bow possibly be on a little girl? I think she found out. Wonderful image and love that your mother wrote, "the tall one."

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  8. It will be lovely to see what you share, Tricia. This is a moment I'm glad you wrote about, those serious three! The bow feels like one of the stars!

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  9. This sounds like a great project, Tricia! If I wore bows in my hair, I don't remember them. I did have hairbands. Lately, girls who do cheerleading (which apparently is a world unto itself these days!) wear large bows to school, but nothing like your grandmothers! The photo is priceless, and your poem matches perfectly.

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  10. A fab-bow-lous poem/picture. :)

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  11. Pardon the late comment, Tricia. I'm delighted to see this project, with its extra bonus of Japanese forms, and how it plays with Linda's "Grandmother's letters" series. How charming and posed these children, and yes, that bow! What kind of name is Gmelin, I wonder?

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  12. I would love that bow for my grandgirls. I don't think I've ever seen one like that. Great line about the bow.

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