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Poetics Presents

The Class of Poetry 115

This month's poetry presentation is a first for T-Zero. This is the first time that a group poem from any poetry class has been used. We look forward to more work of this kind in future issues of T-Zero.

Introduction to Japanese Poetry Forms
(Formerly Poetry105, now Poetry 115)
By Korie Beth Brown, Facilitator, P115

According to the Poet's and Writer's Handbook of Poetic Forms, renga are "long, image-filled poems written in alternating stanzas of three lines and two lines, usually by a group of poets who take turns." (page 159) A renga attempts to link images in surprising and unusual ways, to give the reader a "aha!" experience when reading. In the course "Japanese Poetic Forms," we challenged ourselves to write renga as individuals and as a group.

few words about the rhythm of renga. Each stanza in a renga follows the same pattern as the Japanese tanka, which is that of a haiku followed by a couplet of similar length to the last haiku line. The traditional definition of haiku as 5/7/5 form and tanka of 5/7/5/7/7 (5 syllable line followed by a 7 syllable line and so on) is not strictly followed by modern-day practitioners of these arts; in fact, most devotees will argue that, as the Japanese onji (phonetic character used in writing Japanese) create sound patterns much shorter than their English counterparts, a well written English haiku should be no longer than twelve syllables and seek to replicate the traditional rhythms of their Japanese models.

This is a complex issue that we did not delve into during class. Rather, we sought to undertake the essential ideas of the form as a collection of surprising images, something like a poet's game of Crazy Eights. Having previously and unsuccessfully tried group poetry in the past, I was delighted with the results of our experiment

The Poets:

• Deborah Benarosh lives in downtown Philly with husband, cat, and writing desk stacked with books

• James Augustus Hall, Jr. prefers to go by "Jim Hall." Jim is currently facilitating the Poetry 103 class at WVU.

• Trudee Celeste Smith lives, works, plays and sometimes even writes at a campground on the beach in Washington State.

• Susan Rosenkrantz is a single Mom, in Illinois who escapes through her writing.

• Pamela Williams lives to write in the southern California sun with her blossoming daughter and 3 really cute guinea pigs (the guinea pigs were her daughter's idea).

• Korie Beth Brown is another Southern Californian and a lifelong writer. She is currently working on a chapbook and on a set of linked short stories.

• Molly Critchlow is a full-time poetry addict, currently fixed on Japanese forms.

• Jim Hatfield lives in the Chicago area. He writes speeches and video scripts for a living, and poetry and fiction as a hobby.

Writers' Village members look forward to reading more of these students' works.

City Summer The sidewalk softens with the weight of a skateboard ridden at noon (Korie Beth) Shouts and voices mingle With horns and screeching tires (Pam) Long-haired boy in shorts Leaps high with board, catching air. Woman, shopping, snorts (Jim) Homeless guy wants a buck or any multiple thereof (Frank) Busy path, man flips coin Concrete duos sole life's gig Heart, soul, sings the blues . (Susan) ancient face in dark window newspaper fan and iced tea (borah) Double Dutch jumping girls in plaits twirl rope and chant under swaying tree (borah) fire hydrant alchemy kids transformed to sleek otters (trudeeceleste) sidewalk sale evaporates before the fuzz in blue. (Molly) Passing Through Summer Crops planted in spring must have the rains of summer summer sun is hot (Jim) rain or shine farmer's bills keep growing (Frank) spikka spikka spikk crescent rainbows fall on wheat costly liquid hope (Trudeeceleste) lost lone cow plodding through golden trail (Susan) Thirsty cattle find A tepid watering hole Mosquitoes scatter (Pam) barely breathing trees swooning from heat and little breeze (borah) farmers' children sell cold drinks and fresh produce by the side of road (borah) ripe watermelon halves glisten in afternoon sun (Korie Beth) free range banty hens bicker over fallen rinds hawk circles overhead (TC) grange hall dance fiddles through the night hoot stomp and shuffle (Molly)