Hey folks, just wanted to share some of what I've been working on. In general, I love creating haiku-esque poems from scenes that strike me. I love writing these little poems in medias res, so I keep my phone on me and just jot them down as they strike me. Don't really work on them afterwards, I just like to collect them as life washes over me. Let me know what you think—these are some of my recent ones (all are three lines)!

leaves a flutter, big bush heaving / the wind deals blow after blow / behind paned glass, I hear not a sound

lord of the bench / I survey my realm / under a violet sunset

the park is at an end / time now for courage / and traffic lights

the rage rattles my bones / that I would rather rot in my cot / than rake the riches of the day

the sky rains the trees' bounty / falling leaves and / quiet on the mountaintop

  • PouncySilverkitten [none/use name]
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    4 years ago

    I really like these, especially “the park is at an end,” which just gives me a frisson of recognition. Courage and traffic lights, the lofty and mundane.

    It also kind of reminds me of images I’d jot down, intending to make a full poem out of them but never actually getting that far. I never really considered just letting them stand on their own like this. Nice and simple.

    • thethirdgracchi [he/him, they/them]
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      4 years ago

      Poems are whatever you want them to be, friend. You should share some of your images, I'd love to read them! In this day and age, in which the internet has pulverized our minds into machines incapable of focus, short poems are the way to go.

      • PouncySilverkitten [none/use name]
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        4 years ago

        True, and I’m looking back at what I can find and it’s not the worst. The trouble is that I’ve done an awful job of organizing myself. I used to write stuff on scrap paper and then forget about it. Then I started doing the digital equivalent.

        I also feel like, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve taken simplicity in writing to heart to such a degree that anything too descriptive feels indulgent. Like, hey, let’s all just get to the point.

  • PlantsRcool [any]
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    4 years ago

    Really nice. Haiku-esque but I like that you broke away from the strict 5-7-5. It makes sense in Japanese because the language uses a syllabary but I think in english it's kinda cheesy.

        • thethirdgracchi [he/him, they/them]
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          4 years ago

          For Basho I actually prefer his The Knapsack Notebook to The Narrow Road to the Interior, but of course both are wonderful. You can check out some of Ryōkan's work here. My favourite collection of his poems is this book, which you can download at that link!