These might indeed be Senryus or some other species of micro poems. I just read three mystery/thrillers (audio books of course) back to back while cleaning house/walking/cooking/photoshopping etc and for some reason that led me to write these. Go figure.
Seventeen lifetimes
he sat, in prison, scribbling
wisdom on cell blocks
Parted lips drip gold
gold flecks smeared to make her bold
she laughs, gold flashes
Stars alight attract
lovers with star-shot wishes
their hopes soar space-wards
Lovers who obsess
future’s fate’s their obsession
now’s not their concern
Jealousy’s green eye
casts itself on all around
sees imagined faults
Security woos
slides rings upon shaking hands
fences in futures
Years pass, regret ebbs
its tide washes out old woes
leaves room for living
Ennui steals in
replaces that joie de vivre
leaves boredom instead
From to love to loathing
a step down a twisted path
thorns prick, bleed insults
For the Love Nudge Competition because the challenge appealed to me.
Very nice! I’m not a poet myself so I couldn’t tell you if they are Senryus, but they are beautiful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂 the common consensus is that they are senryus 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry, pressed “Post Comment” before I corrected that incorrect apostrophe — should have been “didn’t.” Sometimes, I type too fast for my own good. Please accept my apology for my typographical-punctuational lapse.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s ok I make mistakes too 🙂 mute serious than an apostrophe
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hah!
LikeLiked by 1 person
So, I didnt’ know about senryu before a couple of weeks ago. It seems that more and more specific types of Japanese poetry are cropping up in English. Wonder who started all that?!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can think of a few wordpress bloggers who work mainly in those forms who may have started our picked up on the trend
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exquisite senryu!
Masterful lines here:
“Ennui steals in
replaces that joie de vivre
leaves boredom instead
From to love to loathing
a step down a twisted path
thorns prick, bleed insults.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂 I’m trying the form
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are senryu and they are beautiful, my friend. Great work. You are a natural, for sure 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh wow. Thank you! Coming from a senryu master such as yourself that is indeed high praise
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 you are welcome, my friend.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
They might be senryus or other micro-poems – they are without a doubt beautiful. It’s a great challenge, isn’t it?
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes it is 🙂 so glad you mentioned it. I had not bumped into this blogger yet 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, Lynn’s one of my earliest WP friends. I’m glad I could spread the word about her 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀 Does she do other challenges? Or was this a one off?
LikeLiked by 1 person
No, it’s a one off, I think. It’s certainly the first one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
good to know 🙂 thanks
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Melinda. I’d never heard of the senryus form before, but these are wonderful. And I’m blown away that you’ve written one for each word in my challenge.
‘lovers with star-shot wishes’ is a beautiful image and the ‘security’ and ‘loathing’ stanzas really drew me.
‘Security woos
slides rings upon shaking hands
fences in futures’
The idea of being wooed by security – willingly stepping into a trap – fantastic.
‘From to love to loathing
a step down a twisted path
thorns prick, bleed insults’
Oh, that twisted path! If only couples could foresee it ahead of them, would their feet take another way?
Beautiful sriting, Melinda. Thanks so much for taking part.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your kind words. I learned of this form from other poets on here far more talented than I. The “Security” is true; I have friends who married for that and then wondered why they were caught in loveless marriages. Most of these are actually about the experiences of friends of mine; they’re stepping stones down a path I hope to avoid!
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are some terrifically talented people out there, and I love your work! Yes, security is a double edged sword. It can be a huge comfort – but if you choose the wrong person, it can lead to misery for all involved. Your poetry rings true – it’s no surprise it’s inspired by reality. Thank you for taking part 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome 🙂 Thank you again for your kind praise
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pleasure
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
First of all, you’ve read 3 books while doing chores! Wow! What kind of focus o you have, give me some! ❤
And these series of senryus are just awesome. The beat the words are just so intense. 😘
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I had a lot of chores to do. I listened to them over 2.5 days they were each about 9 hours long 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oooohh!!! They’re indeed long!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not long enough when you factor in my commute 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh noooo… there are traffic jams there too?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh God yes, more cars, more people, more traffic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve read that traffic is actually an unpaid work. I can relate…![:/](https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/wpcom-smileys/uneasy.svg)
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes it is; I leave early enough to beat some of the traffic that I arrive at work 45-30 minutes before my shift starts. It makes the day longer and me more tired at its end, but I’m never late. More unpaid work right?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes! I do the same. My office starts at 9am, but during Mondays I leave at 5am because traffic is horrendous during Mondays… -___-
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow. I leave later then that. You’ve got me beat
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe because my home to office travel is farther than yours? 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t doubt that it is. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe… Have some rest, Mel. It’s night now in your country right?
(Sorry I keep on forgetting about your lovely country. :/)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah it’s close to midnight here. I can barely keep my eyes open but I wanted to read and catch up on comments. It’s hard to do that from work but I try. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Uh oh…
Have some rest, Mel! We can wait for you. 😉
LikeLike
What a gorgeous series of Senryu, Melinda. I love the third stanza the best. ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! that one was for the challenge Love Nudge.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome! Yes, very fitting, too! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You going to give it a try? It can be any type of poem just as long as its not too long.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hmmm I don’t know. Enough challenges at work as it is 😀 I took a look at the Love Nudge page though, and it does look enticing. Love. How could one resist?
LikeLiked by 1 person
You know you can’t. Resistance is futile 😉 It’s right up your blog’s alley too! You could do a different form for each prompt (hint, hint; nudge, nudge) 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahaha! Sigh. You know exactly which button to push. Okay. Just for you. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
you can do one a day… 😉 and put your skills on display 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t know about skills… but I’m sold 😀 I’m in!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You have skills 😉 trust me! Or do you prefer Skillz? 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aww. Thanks! I’m not a Millennial, (unfortunately/fortunately?), so “skills”, please 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
same here, I want to throw the letter ‘S’ at those z-obsessed millennials!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀 Chuckling here! I agree! You are hilarious, I love it! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀 I’m picturing foam ‘Ss’ falling on laughing college kids 😉 You think they’ll get the point–wait Ss have no points…
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀 😀 Gosh my stomach hurts from laughing!! Now I can’t look at them without picturing throwing a huge Ss foam at them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m going to be picturing that when the fashion disasters cross in front of my office on their way to class tomorrow…
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀 Sigh. I so wish we were having this conversation at that little tea shop around the corner.
LikeLiked by 1 person
that would be awesome. 🙂 though we’d be squirting tea out of our noses and laughing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s the idea. We’d be noisy and people would stare at us. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
and laugh with us!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like your optimism 🙂 So what did you decide to do with the last 30 minutes before bed? 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wrote some of part 26 of Quest. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well done 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wrote 2 sonnets and 3 senryus. You are fantastic for concentration! but now I must go to bed. I’m fading fast…it’s past midnight here and I have to shlep to that office in 7 hours… 😦 Have a good day!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good night, Melinda. Loved our chat 🙂 Have a good rest, ready to face a great new week tomorrow. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I’m off to find dream land and conquer it with my army of foam Ss!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I too enjoyed our chat, but you knew that 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent, Melinda. Amazing what the mind can do while seemingly preoccupied. I think you are starting to think in senryu…it’s all downhill from here 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! So what’s at the bottom of that hill? What is Senryu the poetic equivalent to a gateway drug to?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Since I fell in love with senryu poetry, I’ve found my long form writing has suffered dramatically – I can usually condense everything I want to say into 5-7-5 format…although maybe I never had much of anything to say and was just waffling on needlessly… 😜
LikeLiked by 1 person
You definitely have good things to say. If there was waffling being done, it was in the kitchen with syrup not on your blog. 😉
I hope my long form doesn’t suffer; I’m a novelist masquerading as a poet on here. I will have to tread carefully! Thank you for the warning.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, all in jest – any writing that gets the cogs turning and words on the page has got to be good. I think you can safely add the title of poet to your resume, Melinda – the mask has well and truly fallen 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
aw thank you! You’re right about words on the page and what leads to them.
LikeLiked by 1 person