I G Tuesday platform

ARBOREAL THEATER OF THE ABSURD

~ or ~

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Organic Burial Method Turns you into A Tree After You Die

     ROOT AND BRANCH

I never thought that I would be
Moldering beneath a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
Against what used to be my chest;

A tree who sends its roots down deep
To draw on my eternal sleep;

And up above its branches grow
Nourished by my limbs below.

Poems are made by food like me.
Who might end up feeding a tree.

~~::~~

List List Liszt List

From Fireblossom in the Imaginary Garden: "Today, let's make a list. Not a word list. Let's write a poem with a list in it, or a list that IS a poem."  She elaborates here. 

My response to the challenge:

inventory roll
of jousting field enclosures
leaning to one side

~~:~~

females in my life
wife mother daughter sister
seven granddaughters

~~::~~

compendium
of compositions by Franz
the Liszt list

~~::~~

counting this one
the list of quasi-haiku
totals up to four

~~::~~

Carpe Diem #367, Kirov

We continue our journey through the novel ALEPH, and thus along the Trans-Siberian Railway, arriving at the ancient city of Kirov. 

This time I was intrigued by: "Paulo looks deep into the eyes of Hilal and enters the 'Aleph'."  Part of this experience is described as "feelings that simultaneously exalt and suffocate."  According to Wikipedia, the aleph is "a point where everything, the whole universe is contained."

Well, this is deep, and has nothing at all to do with the city of Kirov - except to the extent that the Aleph contains it, as well.

moment of aleph

eyes meet and we merge as one

sweet suffocation

I know phrase and fragment structure should have 1 caesura, never 2; but I couldn't bring it together that way.

moment of aleph

contains all of us ~ even

moose goose and spider

That one is a stretch, even for the all-containing aleph.  But - since we're all together here - why not?

Carpe Diem #367

 

Carpe Diem #328, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

my garden this year
the marigolds did so well
but not tomatoes

~~~~

come along my friend
let us go to the garden
where we'll just hang out

~~~~

sometimes when i speak

about the low hanging fruit

i just babble on

~~~~

 

Carpe Diem #328

Carpe Diem Special #57, Southard's "the cry of a loon"

Inspirational haiku by O. Mabson Southard (1911-2000)

across the still lake
through up curls of morning mist -
the cry of a loon

 ~~~

 ~~~

My attempts

from across the lake

a white form breaks through the mist

now a swan appears

 ~~~

 ~~~

tea party conclave

fog swirls in their hate-filled minds

nattering of loons

 ~~~

 ~~~

in the morning mist

the mournful low of a moose

honking goose answers

 ~~~

 ~~~

morning dewdrops form

on the orb weaver's taut web

she waits in silence

 

 ~~~

 ~~~

Carpe Diem Special #57

Haiku Heights #277 - Shepard

Image Found Here

with sheer diligence
he protects his gentle flock
till time for slaughter

Haiku Heights #277 ~ September Heights Day 04 ~ Shepherd

Carpe Diem Special #55, O. Mabson Southard's "chanting, the pond's frogs ..."

Inspirational haiku

Chanting, the pond's frogs ...
among the lilies' dark pads -
the twinkle of stars

brown spotted toad  - denizen of my yard

~ 1 ~

Here is a 5-7-5 I wrote for this little guy three years ago

this Amphibian
moved from grass to patio
saved from lawn-mower's bite

~ 2 ~

after the rain storm
thunder fades and croaking starts
the music of frogs

~ 3 ~

dead amphibian
padded under starry skies
tell me why he croaked

~~::~~

Carpe Diem Special #55 

 

Carpe Diem #285, The Peace Within

~ 1 ~

how the poet writes
to purge those soul-bound daemons
finds the peace within

~ 2 ~

for MMT

 how anguished poets
emit those long plaintive wails
and then rest in peace

 ~~~~~

Carpe Diem #285

Carpe Diem's Distillation #1, A poem by Otomo Miyuki (Manyoshu)

The challenge is to reduce to a haiku this poem, by Otomo Miyuki, who, as Kristjaan explains "wrote it after the Jinshin conflict (672), in which Emperor Temmu in 673 moved the capital of Japan back to Yamato Province on the Kiyomihara plain, naming this new capital Asuka."

I've been reducing my own stories and longer poems to haiku form for well over  a year now, so this is right up my alley.

Our Sovereign, a god,
Has made his Imperial City
Out of the stretch of swamps,
Where chestnut horses sank
To their bellies.

© Ōtomo Miyuki

~~::~~

My distillation

sovereign city
fitting capital for god
with feet of clay

Carpe Diem's Distillation #1

Carpe Diem's Little Ones #3,

This time Kristjaan introduces us to SIJO an ancient Korean short poetry form.  He explains:

The lines average 14-16 syllables, for a total of 44-46. There is a pause in the middle of each line, so in English they are sometimes printed in six lines instead of three. Most poets follow these guidelines very closely although there are longer examples. Either narrative or thematic, this lyric verse introduces a situation or problem in line 1, development (called a turn) in line 2, and a strong conclusion beginning with a surprise (a twist) in line 3, which resolves tensions or questions raised by the other lines and provides a memorable ending.

A different structure, but very much the same esthetic drive as the sonnet.  Kristjaan tells us: "Sijo is, first and foremost, a song."  And Sonnet, of course, means "little song."  Is it a stretch to find a match at the souls of these two forms?

Once, in a stroke of smart assery, I reduced Shakespears' Sonnet 12 to a haiku - or at least a haiku-shaped word cluster.  The sonnet can be found here.    My quasi-haiku here, but I'll reprint it below, as well. 

All ages,  withers,

Dies.  You too. Now - you look fine!

Let's make a baby.

 
I think [hope] I'm a better haijin than that now.

Here are two Sigo, the first is another restatement of Sonnet 12, the second comes from the deep recesses of my own fevered brain.

~~~::~~~

soon enough the clock strikes twelve
and all the brightness fades to gloom

you my young sweet beauty too
shall fade into tarnished silver

so now before time steals us
let us join and make a new life

~~~::~~~

a blushing pink flower opens

with fruit so ripe as to burst

here comes the sly wonton boy

his hunger never satisfied

now the cherry gets consumed

is the flower's beauty spoiled

~~~::~~~ 

And now a cinquian, inspired by Bjorn and  Chèvrefeuille.

cherry
but not for long
fallen between white sheets
but now they are stained red
just like cherries

~~~::~~~

Carpe Diem's Little Ones #3

Carpe Diem #279, Calling Wisdom

~ 1 ~

whence comes wisdom
information and knowledge
plus experience

~ 2 ~

i tried to call wisdom
but it left neither number
nor forward address

~ 3 ~

slightly off target
wanted to be a wise man
wound up a wise guy

~::~

Carpe Diem #279