Form Friday: Free Verse Poem - Friday at Last

Friday
the least stressful day
of the week.

Friday in a new apartment,
with an active
Internet connections
and a working television
in an easy to see location.

In this free verse poem, I used rhyme to emphasize my emotions. After two and one-half days without an active internet connection, I am back on line. In the studio, AKA one bedroom, apartment the television faced west while the desks holding the computers faced east. As a results it was difficult to watch television and work on line simultaneously. Also the television did not respond to the channel changer, I am still not sure what caused that problem.

On Wednesday, I moved furniture around until I found the perfect location for everything (I think it is the perfect location). There are some minor technical issues to work out or get used to. Now the stand holding my coffee and/or other beverage is on my left side instead of my right, but since I am ambidextrous when drinking coffee that is not a problem. It will take a little time to get used to this new furniture arrangement. In the meantime, I will just have to deal with the weird feeling I get when sitting at the computer or anywhere in the living room.

Friday at last,
no more moving stress.

Form Friday: What is my favorite poetry form?

What is my favorite poetry form? I do not have one. I write a lot of free verse, senryu, and haiku, but that does not mean they are my favorites. Even though I have not written very many prose poems, II enjoy reviewing them. Today I reviewed a beautiful story written in prose poetry form about an elderly woman on her deathbed. The poem, which was written in line phased form, had the rhythm of natural speech and used internal rhyme to emphasize the theme and subject. I usually write prose poems in paragraph form; however, after reading this poem I think I will attempt a prose poem in line phased form.

whispers from my soul
reverberates through my mind
creates poetry

What types of poetry forms do I like when I write? I like haibun poetry, which is a combination of prose and line phased poetry. I like to use haibun because it pushes me to write short descriptive paragraph, which helps when writing short stories. Haibun is difficult to write because it requires me to include other types of short poetry forms. I usually use senryu and haiku, but not always. Sometimes I include short free verse poems in my haibun entries.

Form Friday: Two Tercet Poetry Forms I Often Use

Tercets are three line poetry forms or stanzas. There are several different types of these three line forms. Two of the types I use frequently are Japanese forms called haiku and senryu. These two forms are composed of seventeen syllables traditionally written in line phase as 5-7-5 with each form having a different subject. The subject of a senryu is human beings or culture. The subject of a haiku is nature.

Good Friday Coffee:
A Senryu

Good Friday coffee
It is a two carafe day
A day for writing

Good Friday Wind:
A Haiku

Pine boughs sway at dawn
The wind carries morning's scent
Sparrows laying eggs

Form Friday: I Write Haibun

I write haibun
prose combined with poetry
precise expressions

I write haibun! Sometimes I combine prose paragraphs with haiku or senryu because the syllable counts require precise words. At other time I combine the paragraphs with short, three or four line, free verse poems. My haibun blog entries are continually evolving because I experiment with the form.

I write haibun!
I listen to birds singing
on Sunrise Avenue
and I write.

I like the haibun form because it is versatile. I can use it with any subject and with any short poetry form. I can describe an early Las Vegas morning or a trip across the city. It is especially good when I want to sit with my front door open while I am writing. I can write a short paragraph, glance out my front door, and then write a poem

Early morning sky
Black transformed to powder blue
A rooster crows

Haibun is also good after meditation or prayer. When I write haibun I feel as if I am writing a meditation. A paragraph is inhaling a breath and the poem is exhaling the breath. Perhaps this is why I enjoy writing this poetry form.

Paragraph inhaled
Poem exhaled
Focusing on the words and lines
Counting breathes

Form Friday: Free Verse Poem - Random Thoughts on Friday the Thirteenth

Listen to the birds
the sing joyful notes of praise
on Friday
or any other day.

They don't let worries
bother about
monetary issues
bother them.

They have problems
that are natural,
simple,
and solvable.

They have to watch
for the neighborhood cats,
find food in a desert city,
look for water on hot or cool days,

This is Friday the Thirteenth
and I worry,
but not about
good or bad luck
because luck
and coincidence
are two sides
of the same coin.

I worry
about finances,
about getting money in the bank
by Monday;
I stop,
I say a prayer,
I work online
knowing that no matter
how much I make this weekend
it will not get into the bank
before Tuesday,
Wednesday,
or Thursday
and it needs to be there
on Monday.

I will not give up
not matter how impossible
the problem I face
because
miracles happen
and working on something
alleviate worry energy
that prevents me
from finding a solution.

Form Friday: I Write both Haibun Haiku and Haibun Senryu

Haibun, haiku, and senryu are all Japanese poetry form. A traditional haiku is a three-line seventeen syllable verse with nature theme, while a traditional senryu has the same number of lines and syllable as a haiku, but its theme is about some aspect of human beings. Haibun combines prose with poetry; it usually begins with prose and ends with a haiku.

Cold rain is falling
Birds are shivering in their nests
Wind in the palm trees

I write haibun that incorporates both haiku and senryu in a single entry. Sometimes I write haibun entries with haiku, sometimes with senryu, and sometimes I include both haiku and senryu in the haibun entry.

Music echoing
Through the thin apartment walls
The neighbors are home