Today I found a reference to a Japanese form called “Imayo”. I understand the the form is a four line poem with each line having 12 syllables. Each line is broken into two parts by a deliberate caesura, the first part is seven syllables and the second part is five syllables (that feels a little more haiku like, eh?) Apparently this form was meant to be sung… As I am not writing music for this project, I shall leave that to someone slightly more ambitious than I.
Here’s what I came up with…
Before the Storm
She prepares the loaves to rise - rain falls on the porch
The soup begins to simmer - leaves line the front walk
Spoons and bowls ready for use - all the birds have gone
She breathes before guests arrive - day gives way to night.
Copyright ©2019 Tim Geoghegan, all rights reserved.
Something to note… if you look at the lines before and after the caesura, you might find that you get a couple of different poems here. It sort of sets up a nifty little juxtaposition of sorts. In the case of this poem, the seven syllable sections, by themselves, give you a glimpse at the woman preparing for company. The five syllable sections give you a look at what’s happening outside. Depending on how you arrange the sections you could get three or four different poems out of this exercise.
She prepares the loaves to rise
The soup begins to simmer
Spoons and bowls ready for use
She breathes before guests arrive.
Rain falls on the porch
leaves line the front walk
all the birds have gone
day gives way to night.
In and of themselves they possess a poetic quality which makes this form especially interesting to me and gives me pause to consider that while this is a compact form, it really has a lot of potential for powerful comparisons and contrasts. It may need to be a form I hold on to for a deeper dive. Thoughts?
Hope you are enjoying these… If you are, maybe you’d consider subscribing to OneSureChord.Com … If that sounds agreeable, go up to the top of this page on the right side and subscribe. New posts will show up in your email box.
Cheers!