Sijo and other forms

Sijo Selections

Debi Bender, Editor

4 Seasons

Firewood burned in summer's grate; now, ash stirs in autumn drafts.

Winter’s chill draws closer, closer, while you cut and pleat paper fans.

Hey, we can plant spring, drawn on the folds; go find a charcoal stick!

Holiday Hang-ups

A holiday sijo series as concrete poems

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to make ready

for the holidays,

I've traveled ‘round my house;

dustrag and broom, mop and vacuum,

all the rooms are polished clean.

limp and dirty, I could pass

as an old

cleaning

rag!

? | | 0 ^ miracle, you must be here... do you wonder when I'll notice? hustle and bustle wrap the world, disguised as Christmas spirit. come and find me, miracle! ollie ollie oxen free!

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noise, oh noise,

please won't you stop?

house full, I long for silence;

a wave, a kiss, away they go

with tinseled trees & colored lights.

even the winter garden's

emptier than before

Hail, Taurus, Aries, Perseus

Orion and Gemini!

Thou Sunday Congregation,

do you sing hymns this Holy Night?

Between the Old and New Years...

lullabies, please, lullabies.

cumulus clouds filigree

a lapis lazuli sky;

patches of blue chicory

intersperse the Queen Anne's lace --

how can I not sing pleasure

with bobwhite and meadowlark?

the flower moon's a silver arc

above deep forest shadows

killdeer sweep across the lake,

an ellipse of phantom light

how can I read their cry,

the same in joy or sorrow?

the sugar maple, remnant

from my childhood, has fallen

it obscures the front porch

where I swung away lazy days --

where's the black snake that once

summered in its sprawling branches?

from one small seedling there came two,

first came me, then you--then you

each time a simple flower

more delightfully refined

and so it will be splendidly,

all the way along the vine

you have blossomed before my eyes

like a rose bud in summer

the birds and wind in their travel

sing of your fragrance and grace

heed not the call of distant lures

for I've loved you all these years

Symbiotic - New Forms Selections

Debi Bender, Editor

NOTE:

stanzas of partner #1 are in plain text

stanzas of partner #2 are in italics

........stanzas of partner #3 are indented

Colorenga

Completed, 2002

dual-tone colorenga (2 colors)

hortensia anderson, New York, USA

an'ya, Oregon, USA

sweet relief...pink grapefruit halves on ice

smacking my lips after a pale ale...dog-day heat

sunrise on the rapberry brambles...juice-stained fingers

her face flushed...the new yorker hails a taxicab

heart chakra crystals...tumbled rose quartz and topaz

sunburned soul-mates...swim in the moonlit bay

golden scales flash...through the coral reef

vegas chapel...wedding rings and flamingo shaped neons

a blushing bride...the first night of their honeymoon

afternoon stroll...a narcissus and pinkster flower bouquet

2-tone colorenga (a colorenga using two colours)

Completed, January, 2002

an'ya, Oregon, USA

hortensia anderson, New York, USA

..........john wisdom, Florida, USA

volcanic ash a blue moon shines on the rockchuck hole

young hitchhikers pierced navels and lilac hair

..........deep sea fishing a baby marlin's tug on the line

laundry day the violet tip flutters past a blowing sheet

late night rendezvous her sapphire pendant catches the light

..........tardy again a bouquet of irises placed on her desk

first grade field trip robin eggs for show and tell

in the cracked china bowl just picked ripe juicy plums

..........vandalized store a pair of jeans among the splintered glass

except for the lavender eye shadow identical twins

mixing paint for a masterpiece the perfect sky

..........office party purple passion splashed on the wall

Babanga

Completed, 2002

babanga composed in the USA from east coast - west coast

Hortensia Anderson, New York, USA

an'ya, Oregon, USA

sweet herbs

bubbling in the cauldron

a healing broth

hunched over

wrapped in soft grey wool

that she wove herself

cool fingers

stroke my fevered brow

and tangled hair

she knows the name of all the birds

tis' a murder of crows she softly croons

this voice that seeps through snow and sleep

bedtime story

she gestures toward

a total eclipse

fortune teller

the dark corner of sky

in a crystal ball

collecting the may

in her white wicker basket

a gentlewoman

A Babanga is a nine-link poem about grandmothers or crone figures. The form is 3-3-3, 1-1-1, 3-3-3. There is a break between each sequence.

The first sequence is done by the first partner, the second sequence is shared, and the last sequence is done by the second partner.

The Babanga was created by Alexis K.Rotella in honor of her maternal grandmother, Irene Semenik, on 20 March 1997.