Being the wonderful teacher that she is, Khara had us review all we had studied during the first eight weeks in order to complete this week's challenge. The final challenge is to create a form of our own.
This year, I have found myself reminding people that haiku is an important segment of jazz poetry. To that end, my form is the jazz haiku ensemble. Following are the guidelines:
1. The subject of the poem will be something related to jazz (person, place or thing) or contain elements of jazz.
2. Each stanza will be haiku and the minimum number of stanzas is two (a jazz haiku duet).
3. I won't hold you to the common 5-7-5 line length, but each haiku may have only 17 syllables.
4. The last stanza must be an American Sentence, which we had to write as part of last week's challenge.
Since August 29 is Charlie Parker's birthday, I wrote the following jazz haiku trio in his honor:
Bird’s Song
I hear Bird’s songs play.
He has been gone a long time,
but never left us.
Silky saxophone.
Bird could make it swing or moan.
Made Bebop the rage.
I wish he had been with us longer in body as well as in soul.
I wish he had been with us longer in body as well as in soul.
Oooh, love it! Love both the poem and the form...and of course the poet/innovator, as well. Going to have to give this one a whirl around the dance floor myself. You and Khara are conspiring to make me a poet.
ReplyDeleteYes, we are! Jazz poetry is a great way to start. Even the research is a blast!
DeleteOh, good one, Michelle. I love haiku, always have, but have never heard of jazz haiku before. I'm with Lara on this one and will have to hit the dance floor at least once to take a few words for a spin.
ReplyDeleteAnd I concur. Charlie is still missed by all who ever heard his horn. Great tribute and poem on several levels.
Thank you, Claudette. I was shocked when I learned that haiku was an important segment of jazz poetry, but I've been having fun with it ever since! I hope you enjoy your spin.
DeleteAdd me to the list that has never heard of jazz poetry. And while I really stink at Haiku, you've peeked my interest by adding that American Sentence at the end.
ReplyDeleteThe American Sentence is the new twist and I thought it provided the opportunity to create a really strong ending. I hope you give it a try.
DeleteFantastic Michelle! What a great idea to write Jazz haikus like that. I love Jazz and haikus, might try to find some time to give it a try...but has to have a Canadian or British ending I'm afraid. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Veronica. Each week, Khara ended the challenge by saying "Fun it up!" I think a Canadian or British Sentence at the end would do that!
DeleteExcellent haiku. Some people have the knack for it - you certainly do!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kenya, and thanks for hosting TALU!
DeleteNice, Michelle. I always look forward to reading your poems!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking this up with the TALU!
Thanks, Anne. TALU
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