Fun with Poetry

I have to admit, I don't know much about poetry. Not Western poetry, anyway. I've enjoyed haiku and other Japanese forms for a long time, but poetry in the Western tradition always seemed very staid and overly formal to me. I never bothered to find out much about it. Until last week, when I found myself down a Wikipedia rabbit-hole, reading all about Romanticism, epic poetry and iambic pentameter. Yes, I finally know what iambic pentameter is! Though don't ask me to try and explain it to anyone else....

I realised something as well. I think the thing that bugs me about Western poetry is that it rhymes. To me, having grown up with Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl and limericks, poetry that rhymes is funny, or at least doesn't take itself too seriously. On the few occasions that I've tried to read serious classic poems, my brain seems to rebel in a way that it doesn't with non-rhyming Japanese haiku and tanka. I think my Gen-Y short attention span might something to do with it as well!

Incidentally, I heard recently that the reason we as a society don't have such a widespread interest in poetry anymore is that in the last few centuries, our brains have been re-trained to read words instead of hearing them, and rhyming poetry is much better appreciated when heard aloud. I wish I could remember where I heard that, sorry. But it does explain why music (especially rapping) is so popular.

Yes, the pictures are very random today.
Other views are that we just don't have time, it's perceived as too high-brow, and that people are turned off because 90% of it is quite simply rubbish. I can attest to this after having downloaded a range of free collections of haiku from iBooks. (I think there was only one author whose other works I wanted to seek out.) Then again, 90% of novels, films and music are rubbish, too. In fact, 90% of everything is crap, according to Sturgeon's Law. That explains why I hardly ever watch commercial TV.

Anyway, after reading about the different genres of poetry, I came to humorous poems -- limericks, satires, doggerel and Clerihews. I'd never heard of Clerihews before, but they immediately became my favourite and I can't stop writing them! Clerihews are four-line poems written about famous people, in a style that's a deliberately a little bit wonky. When I tried to think of who to write my first one about, our esteemed first Prime Minister popped into my head. Here it is:

Sir Edmund Barton
Passed his time a-fartin'
In parliament house he was a drunkard notorious
However, his looks weren't too injurious.

Our esteemed leader.I wrote a second (double) one to help me remember the 'rules' of the form:

There was a Mr. Clerihew
Poetic lines: he paired a few --
Four, to be precise.
Sometimes, but not always concise.

He picked a person most famous
To whom to devote his poems most heinous --
And with rhymes most confusing
He made the subject's foibles amusing.

Then I went for it with Chinese philosophers:

Confucius
Thought a man shouldn't be useless
He should be polite and loyal
Even when tilling the soil.

Lao Tzu
At court he wouldn't say boo.
He wandered off one day
But not before stopping to say all he wanted to say.

And more political figures:

When it comes to Boris Johnson
I'd rather rhyme Boris than Johnson
But at least I didn't have to hear
Recordings of his voice attempting to keep everyone calm on public transport during Olympic year.

I don't know what's going to happen next!

Pop for Poetry

This is an impromptu post (hence the terrible photo taken on my ipod) about Pop for Poetry.

If you're on a Melbourne train and you see a balloon, take it! I found a poem inside mine. On this dreary Monday morning, it was exactly what I needed. Instead of worrying about what was in store for me this week at work, I started thinking about blog posts I'll write. Perhaps I'll even start writing zines again!
Maybe!

I've been writing

This week I've been suddenly interested in writing haiku again. When I was at university, I came across haiku in my research on Japanese culture. They really resonated with me. I'd tried writing poetry in school, but it always felt clunky and forced. I never knew when to end a poem, or how many themes it should have. Haiku are deliberately short and sweet. They also appealed to my spritual side, because they're (usually) about appreciating nature.
Reading about the history and form of haiku, I realised there are many misconceptions about them. People have said to me, "I hate haiku, I had to write them in school and I got sick of counting the syllables. Why do there have to be exactly 17 syllables?" I quickly realised in my research that this isn't true!

The 17-syllable rule was only applied in very strict poetry-writing competitions; in most other cases, it never mattered, as long as the poem had 3 lines, with the first and third being a bit shorter than the second. Japanese is a very different language to English, and the concept of a syllable can't really be applied to it. The closest it has is a unit called the on, which is more like a word-unit than a syllable. Japanese words tend to be longer as well, so you would need less syllables in English to convey the same amount of information, anyway. Here's a haiku by Basho, the most famous haiku master, as an example:

furuike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto

old pond / a frog jumps in / sound of water

I found out lots of other interesting things about haiku as well. Originally, they were called hokku, and they were shorter sections of longer poems called renga. A renga consisted of a series of haiku-like verses, alternating with a two-line joining verse. Generally, the minimum length was around 35 verses. In the Heian (medieval) period, people would gather at inns for group poetry-writing sessions. Each person would write a verse, sometimes changing topics abruptly, challenging the next to create a verse that flowed as a complete poem. Many of these poems were humorous or romantic, matching the informal mood at the inns. Regular poetry-writing competitions became popular, and there was prestige as well as material prizes for the winners. It's thought that haiku were first written as starter verses for renga, but it may be that they developed in their own right. A concise 3-line poem can convey more technical skill than a longer, open-ended one.

Though the 17-syllable rule is less important than many people realise, there are two things that a good haiku should have. The first is a kigo, or a season word. Documents have been found with long lists of pre-defined kigo. As haiku are traditionally a poem which appreciates or celebrates nature, an element which gives an indication of the season or weather the poem is set in is important. Kigo need not be obvious or restrictive however. Many kigo are subtle and it takes a familiarity with Japanese customs and history to identify them. In the example by Basho above, the frog is a reference to Spring. In modern haiku, this concept is more open - words can be used to evoke a sense of familiarity or an emotional response from the reader, rather than a stricter concept of season. For example, this is a poem I wrote in response to an experience I had earlier today:

Dull corporate kitchen
Bright yellow cheers a work-worn soul -
Pear-shaped sponge

In this poem, I have tried to convey a certain feeling ('dull'; 'work-worn'), then being pleasantly surprised by a small detail (a normally boring kitchen item that has a quirky shape and colour) which pulls me out of my dull mood. There is no mention of nature or seasons, rather the poem tries to convey a small but significant experience occuring in a familiar environment. In a more traditional poem, the pear and the colour yellow (perhaps even the sponge?) might have stood for seasons. Here, they stand for more abstract concepts, yet the purpose of triggering visual and emotional contemplation is the same.

The other convention that haiku normally have is a break (kireji in Japanese). This change of direction usually occurs in the somewhere in the middle line, or at the end of one of the lines. It can involve the introduction of a new concept, or a break in the rhythym of the poem. This adds energy and prevents the poem from becoming dull and monotonous.

So much sunlight
Suddenly bursting through
Is it really spring?

In this haiku I wrote the other day (which was my first one in years, so I admit isn't the best!), the first two lines are a single statement. Then there's a break where I suddenly switch to asking a question. Often poets in English will use punctuation to emphasise a break, but I wanted it to be quite subtle. The fact that the first and second lines both start with a hard 's' sound, while the third starts with a soft 'izz' sound, is enough to emphasise this. Hopefully, when the reader reaches the end and realises the last line is a question, their attention will jump back to the rest of the poem, they will visualise the imagery I described, and will contemplate possible answers to the question.

So, though haiku have conventions, as all poetry forms do, they're actually not as restrictive and dull as many people seem to think. The trick to haiku is not getting the number of syllables right, but using the 3 lines to delight the reader and spark a heightened appreciation of nature. Japan also has a long tradition of linking poetry with painting, something I'd like to explore more of soon.

Dreaming

This morning I was so inspired by the pale sunshine on the trees as I was walking to work that I wrote a haiku. My first one in about 4 years. I want to write more as I find it a very relaxing and spiritual experience.

Then when I was (illicitly) browsing Etsy a little while later, I came across this Mini Book of Haiku. This got me all fired up for bookbinding as well as haiku! The method of folding the binding papers and enclosing the printed pages within them is absolutely gorgeous. How special the poems must be to be enfolded within such beautiful patterned Japanese paper.

Then I saw that the same seller is offering kits on making your own! Well, that was just too much for me. I haven't clicked the "Add To Cart' button - yet - but my head is swimming with beautiful papers and smooth waxed twine and ribbon and words.

And I have 5 hours to go until I finish work! *sighs*

Game On!!!

If you're into computer games, retro stuff and fun, and have at least 4 hours to spare, go to the GAME ON exhibition at ACMI. It's truly amazing. It was like the last 15 years never happened for me. Bliss!
Plus, it's cool and dark in there. 37 degrees outside. Need I say more?

The early arcade games have also given me some ideas for digital art, and maybe even some fair-aisle patterns. I've got brightly-coloured squares floating through my head at the moment. Things with little crosses on them are featuring heavily as well. So far I only have the books from the library to show for it. Every new idea starts with a trip to the library for me. Hopefully I'll have the energy to have something more to show for it soon. Wage-slave issues are are starting to piss me off again. :[


I've written a love poem:

My Boyfriend

My boyfriend has a computer. I love him!
My boyfriend has a colour printer. I love him!
My boyfriend has a scanner with photocopy emulation. I love him!
My boyfriend has a laminator. I love him!
My boyfriend has a dimo labeller. I love him!
My boyfriend has a long arm stapler. I love him!
My boyfriend has a guillotine cutter. I love him!
My boyfriend bought a graphics tablet last weekend. I love him so much!

More when weather sanity returns.