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Robyn Hood Black - children's author, poet, artist

Life on the Deckle Edge

Poetry Friday - This Title Is Longer than my Poem...

August 23, 2018
Tags: Poetry Friday, Poetry, haiku, monoku, verdigris

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!

 

There will be lots of words over here next week, when I host Poetry Friday.  

 

So this week I thought I 'd simply share the shortest poem I've ever had published - four words!  (You might recall my spring post about one-line haiku, sometimes called monoku.  Here's the link if you missed it.)

 

Today's poem appears in the summer issue of Modern Haiku.

 

 

 

a penny saved verdigris

 


Modern Haiku, Vol. 49.2, Summer 2018

 

 ©Robyn Hood Black

 

 

I had verdigris on my mind this spring, having recently turned in my batch of writing for the Core Essentials Character Education Curriculum I've been contributing to for many years.  I handle the animals, colors, and quotes corresponding to each monthly value.  Often I suggest/pick these items too, and this year I tossed in "verdigris."  I've always been enchanted by that variegated blue-green sheen over metal.  (And it wasn't hard to find a bit in my studio, either!)

 

Did you know it took the Statue of Liberty 30 years to change from her coppery brown to that beautiful green patina?  One must be patient with verdigris, and with poetry! Even the shortest poems appear when they want to, on their own time.

 

Thanks to our colorful, thoughtful Margaret for hosting the Roundup this week at Reflections on the Teche, where you can find links to poetry of varied lengths and learn about Zeno Zines! (See you back here next Friday.) :0)

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Poetry Friday - Monoku Times Two (or Three...)

March 8, 2018
Tags: Poetry Friday, Poetry, haiku, monoku, Robyn Hood Black, one line haiku

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!

Recently I sent my semi-regular batch of new haiku submissions off to journals, and one of the acceptances that came back this week was for a very short monoku. What's a monoku? A one-line haiku. In English-language haiku, this approach has been around for decades. There's something about how condensed and compressed such a poem is, how crystallized, that - as long as it does its job with juxtaposition and layered possibilities of meaning, - I just love.

I'll share the mentioned poem after it's published. Modern Haiku accepted it with a nice note. I can share two others MH published in the current issue, though:



one door closes morning glories



after the hurricane leaf blowers


Modern Haiku, Vol. 49.1, Winter-Spring 2018
poems ©Robyn Hood Black. All rights reserved.


Looking back, one of my earliest published haiku was a monoku:



rush of wind my imperfect t'ai chi



A Hundred Gourds, March 2012
©Robyn Hood Black. All rights reserved.


Several one-line haiku I've had published since then are among my favorites, if I had to pick from my own.

Most of us travel paths in children's lit, and usually I prefer a good book for young readers to a book for adults any day. Books for kids must be precise, concise. Of course, that's something I love about poetry - and, to me, the most concise kind of poetry is haiku. (Maybe the most concise type of haiku is a monoku?)

My personal preference is not for one-word poems or something that seems to be simply a clever word trick, though some of these are published with special formatting and such. I generally hold to the notion that a haiku should contain two juxtaposed images.

The one-line haiku that have come to me have always arrived all in one piece, in a singular, fleeting, but palpable moment. They've been little gifts. No haggling, no teeth-gnashing for just the right word, or tweaking and playing with lines and breaks. Just two images fully formed into a little handful of words, drifting down like the surprise of a feather.

(PS/pssst - In case you're a haiku fan stocking up on short poems for Poem in Your Pocket Day, I've got ISSA Seasons mini haiku cards for sale in my Etsy shop here. If you need a different kind of discounted amount, just give me a holler.)

Now, drift on over to Today's Little Ditty, where the ever-surprising Michelle has this week's Roundup, complete with tons of poetry teaching tips from PF regulars and guests, just in time for April. (Be sure to catch the March challenge from Nikki Grimes while you're over there, too!)
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