Gogyohka

bells like clear vowels ~ gogyohka

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 15 Comments

bells like clear vowels

water falls freely
in a thundering roar
framed by rainbow and mist
a carillon sounds
bells like clear vowels

The Rainbow Tower, on the Canadian side of the Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls, houses a carillon that sound three times a day.

Image source: Tripadvisor
~ the Rainbow Tower is at the left end of the bridge
~ the green tower to the right is an observation tower on the American side

This is my response to Twiglet #318: bells like clear vowels

Shared with Day Two at napowrimo.net (off prompt)

Gogyohka (pronounced go-gee-yoh-kuh) is 5-line poetry, similar to tanka but with no fixed syllable count and no conventions regarding content. Here is a link discussing gogyohka.

At Home ~ gogyohka ~ senryū

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 43 Comments

At Home

What is a trip to a place left behind,
one that always lives in my heart?
Have I returned home when I visit there,
or when I leave?

This is my response to Twiglet #308: returned home.
As an exercise, I have also written this as a gogyohka and a senryū.
(Also shared with Colleen’s #TankaTuesday
Weekly #Poetry Challenge No. 303, Senryū.)

always present

a trip to a place left behind
always in my heart
at home in two places
past and present as one
never gone

 

have I returned home
when I visit the past
or when the trip ends?

Senryū are similar to haiku, but they tend to be about human nature, rather than nature.

Gogyohka (pronounced go-gee-yoh-kuh)
 ~ a form of Japanese poetry pioneered by Enta Kusakabe in the 1950s
 ~ 5-line poetry ~ like tanka, but with freedom from restraints
 ~ no fixed syllable requirement
 ~ no conventions regarding content
 ~ brief lines in keeping with the tradition of Japanese short verse

Words of Healing ~ gogyohka & sijo

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 18 Comments

collection of poems
in heartfelt delivery
friends from near and far
hear labor of love in words
poetry reading

I wrote a gogyohka this morning, then realized
I could use the same theme to write a sijo to respond to
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Challenge #44: Overcome.

Words of Healing

Searching both heart and soul,
       a poet finds words of healing.

Held close at first, they come alive
       when read to a circle of friends.

Recovery follows loss,
       as a gentle rain quenches a drought.

to honor another, lost ~ gogyohka & senryū

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 14 Comments

 

roads to travel
to honor another, lost
December’s dark days
once again conspire
to deliver sorrow

I’ll be traveling this week, so I’ll be absent from WordPress, but I should be home by Friday. I’m leaving now, Monday morning, to drive to Buffalo to attend the funeral of the mother of a dear friend I have known since childhood.

batter dropped in oil
much more than simple donut
brings sweet memories

 

memories, the only present ~ gogyohka

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 23 Comments

  Image copyright
David, The Skeptic’s Kaddish

 

distance, measured in time
always out of reach
in the future lie possibilities
in the past, all that is unobtainable
memories, the only present

This gogyohka is my response to  Colleen Chesebro’s #TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 274, #Ekphrastic #PhotoPrompt, where we are asked to write any form of syllabic poetry (including gogyohka), inspired by a photo provided by David, The Skeptics Kaddish.
The photo is of David’s father who is gone, but always present in his heart.