I thought it would be a good idea to dedicate May's Pen to Paper session to Japanese forms of poetry: the more popular haiku, and the lesser known tanka and haibun. Offa's Press are compiling an anthology of Japanese poetry that captures everyday life in the West Midlands, with a submission window of 1st June and 31st July. For full submission details, scroll to the bottom of this page, or check out the post on the home page here.
Opening Exercise: My Journey (1)
Conduct a free write about a journey you have taken recently. This could be a journey on foot, such as a walk, or via transport such as bus, train, plane or car. Alternatively, this could be a journey which took longer than a single day, such as a camping or hiking trip, or a tour through a different country. Your free write should be full of activity and detail, considering even the little things you saw, felt, smelt, tasted, heard and thought. It can be rather colloquial and straightforward in tone if you like, but do try some creative expressions to convey some of your experiences. We'll come back to this free write later.
Tanka
A traditional Japanese form of poetry, written in five lines of 5, 7, 5, 7, and 7 om (syllables) respectively. Traditionally a witty form of poetry using linked associations or word play. They often used their five-line structure to build up images to create a concise, rounded idea, image, or narrative. Later, the first 3 lines became an independent unit called a hokku, or haiku.
Very Basic Example:
I love my kitten.
She is so little and cute.
She has a pink tongue,
And lots of long whiskers too.
She purrs when I stroke her back.
Example from Tada Chimako:
I listen to songs
of someone handsome
at the apex of night
the Milky Way overflows
the stars boil over and fall
Haiku
A traditional Japanese form of very short poetry, written in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 om respectively. Their structure traditionally features two juxtaposed images or ideas, with a kireji (‘cutting word’) separating them in a similar way to punctuation. Haikus often feature kigo (a seasonal reference), natural imagery, or everyday objects or occurrences.
Example from Matsuo Basho:
None is travelling
Here along this way but I,
This autumn evening.
For more of Basho's haiku, follow this link.
Looking at examples of tanka and haiku by Chimako, Basho, and other poets (writing in Japanese or English), ask yourself what it is that makes the form work - how is it structured (maybe identify the image being built in a tanka, or the two opposing images/ideas in a haiku and its kireji), and the strengths/weaknesses of the form.
Exercise 1: Everyday Objects
Take a random object in open hands, with your eyes closed. [If you are doing this exercise at home, get someone you know to pick out your object for you, so you are approaching it 'blind'.] Use your remaining senses to explore the item - not with the aim to work out what it is necessarily, but to get a feel for its size, shape, texture, smell/sound, and weight. After few minutes, place the object down in your lap and open your eyes, and without looking at the object, begin writing down what you were thinking/feeling.
After you have written down all your thoughts, take a look at the object, and begin adding to your free write by including visual details. After this, conduct small free writes to answer the following questions: what was this object used for? (you can be as fanciful as you like), who owned this object? (build a sense of person as suggested to you by the object), and what was so special about this object to that person?
Once all free writes are complete, use your material to build a tanka: beginning with two to three lines which build up a sense of the object, and two further lines which expand into the object's life/use/significance. Using the same material written about your object, construct a haiku - identify two ideas/images from your free write that you could 'cut' or juxtapose together with a connecting word.
Haibun
Celebrated Japanese poet Basho honed his skills through writing tanka, but devoted much his writing to developing the haiku. He was later considered the master of this latter poetic form. He later developed his own form, called the haibun.
A haibun is a mixture of a hai(ku) poem and bun(sho) prose, which takes the form of a prose poem interwoven with haiku. The body of text is often a form of nikki (travel writing, or diary writing), but is concentrated, allusive, and rhythmic, as well as colloquial, full of activity and detail. The haiku speckled amid this prose capture little moments of stillness or observation, a quiet breath, and can be used to add insight or suggest implications relating to the wider narrative.
Example: Stallion’s Crag by Ken Jones - “confessions of a part-time hermit in the Welsh hills”
Basho's inspiration for this haibun came from the pilgrimages and journeys he took. Going on a journey to places associated with poetry, and then writing about those experiences, is a process the Japanese call ‘uta makura’ - literally ‘poem pillow’ but better translated as the ‘poem road’. Basho’s famous haibun The Narrow Road harkens back to the poets need to connect with his ancestors through pilgrimage, to wander like the sailors and horsemen of old, even like Time itself.
Exercise 2: My Journey (2)
Go back to your opening free write about a recent journey you have taken. If the free write forms the rough basis for you bunsho prose, highlight 4-5 moments within that prose where the narrative of your journey may benefit from a haiku - a snapshot, a moment of heightened poetry.
Exercise 3: Museum Journey
The structure of a haibun lends itself well to a walk through a museum - a general journey in which you experience many different sights, sensations, thoughts and feelings, punctuated with moments of heightened poetry as you connect intellectually or emotionally with art pieces, or have interpersonal encounters along the way.
Set off on a journey into a museum or gallery. Take any route you like - perhaps go to a gallery or exhibit you haven't explored very recently or at all. (At BMAG, the Roman/Egyptian/Middle Eastern galleries might be good for imagining a journey back into antiquity, but take whatever route you like). Make notes of things you see, feel, think, and experience along the way, with a mind to constructing both your bunsho prose and the haiku poems capturing standout moments or experiences.
Offa's Press: Anthology of Japanese Poetry
Submission details:
Each writer may submit up to 10 haiku, 3 haibun and 5 tanka. The content of the haiku, tanka and haibun submitted should be inspired by the everyday world of the West Midlands.
All submissions should be the original work of the writer who is submitting the work. We are looking for fresh exciting poetry. However, work that has been published previously will be considered as long as full publishing details are provided.
The window for submissions to the anthology is from June 1st to July 19th. Submissions should be sent by post to David Bingham at 20, Hodge Bower, Ironbridge, Telford, TF8 7QG or via email to david.hodgebower@tiscali.co.uk
The author’s name/contact details must appear on each page.
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