Tag Archive | Poetry

Nanowrimo and Poetry Thoughts

Oct24

fo_banner_japonais_whatever
Woman writing letter at desk (c.1940s). Henry Clive (Australian, 1882-1960).

I have decided to do Nanowrimo again this year, as I do every year. Even though I haven’t ever managed to hit the word count, Nanowrimo has helped me generate some good bases for stories or write a good stack of poems. I just seem to write short stories better than novels, but novels are what people want. And yes, I’ll miss a week, but I’m going to attend a few of the write-ins in the area and maybe meet some new folks.

Anyway, I have an idea and a name “Ephemeroptera”. It’s a horror story. That’s about all I’ll say for now.

Yes, I still plan to do the Tanka Challenge. I want to finish my first batch of 100 linked poems. I’ve done 83 so far. The Tanka Challenge should finish the batch. Hyakushu (100 poem linked sequence) is way more challenging than stand-alone tanka, and honestly, it’s been hard to tap into my inner elegant courtier when surrounded by the ugliness of our current government. Every day brings a new horror. But I’ve been reading a biography of the poet Fujiwara no Sadaie (Teika), as well as a biography of the poet Shinkei, who lived about 150 years after Teika. I also have access to some poetic treatises written by both these poets, as well as one from a disciple of Shotetsu.

What interests me about both of these men is that they lived during turbulent times. Teika lived and wrote during the end of the Heian period and the beginning of the Kamakura period. Shinkei lost his home during the Onin Wars. Yet they produced some of the most stirring poetry of the Japanese middle ages. I want to read their poems and their thoughts and see how they did what they did, and whether it can be accomplished in English.

This project will take time, since there is a wealth of source material available (in English!), but it’s an avenue I would like to explore.

小鳥の歌　78

Jul24

Mount Koya erupts
The monks of Mii-dera
Surging through the streets
From eve til dawn fires burn
Shut the garden gate and pray

Link: the light is there to fires burn

This poem was the result of a challenge: pretend for a moment that social media existed during your persona’s time period. What event would send them into a tweet storm, and what would that post look like? Bonus points awarded for posts under 140 characters.

Hey, that’s simple for tanka! Even more simple if written in Japanese. However, I got three lines in and my grammar failed me. Adjectival nouns are straight-forward (add な) but in Ancient Japanese, it would be なり, I think? Anyway, it didn’t scan. I need to study more. So this came out in English and not a stylish poem at all, but it fit the challenge.

The poem describes how the monks on Mount Koya, a holy place with several monasteries, used to occasionally get rowdy and riot through the streets of Kyoto, particularly towards the end of the Heian period. There were several monasteries involved, not all on Mount Koya. Mii-dera was just one of many.