Senryū

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

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

 

footprints in the snow ~ senryū

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 29 Comments

footprints in the snow
heading off into nowhere
bring cold weather blues

This senryū is my response to Come Sing With Me!, the prompt from Lillian at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use at least two song titles from a list of sixteen.
                    Footprints in the Snow (Bill Monroe)
                    Cold Weather Blues (Muddy Waters)

Image source: pixabay.com (artellliii72)