Poetry Friday: National Poetry Month begins!

Yes, it’s National Poetry Month once again, and there’s so much going on, it’s hard to keep track of everything! There are poems and contests and interviews and all sorts of things…but first things first!

First, I’d like to share a new form I’ve been working on – which is actually an old form. A really old form…

You’ve very possibly heard of haiku, yes? If so, you probably know it consists of 3 lines with a 5-7-5 syllable count (although English-language syllables don’t exactly translate to the Japanese language, so many folks who write haiku in English eschew this rule).

Well, haiku is a relatively new Japanese form; what I’ve been practicing is a form that has been around since the 5th or 6th century AD: the sedoka.

The word sedoka means, roughly, “head-repeating,” and is made up of two tercets, or parts, known as katauta. Katauta – with a 5-7-7 syllable count – are rarely ever written by themselves; they are usually grouped in pairs, creating one sedoka.

The idea of “repeating” is not so much the words themselves, but the subject or feeling of the poem. In simple terms, each katauta describes the same subject, but from a different perspective; therefore, one sedoka presents two perspectives.

Here’s my example:
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West wind whips fiercely
thin strands of branches atop
lonesome beechnut’s balding dome.

In younger days, green
leaves embraced each limb – now sweet
Zephyrus betrays my age.

– © 2016 Matt Forrest Esenwine, all rights reserved
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A couple of weeks ago, I was getting my feet wet writing the Naani poetry form, and now I’m practicing ancient Japanese…you never know where, or how, inspiration will strike!

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Today is also the first day of Irene Latham‘s annual progressive poem! A different writer adds a line each day, and on April 30 we’ll see how it culminates…and it all starts HERE, with Laura Purdie Salas!

You can follow the 2015 Progressive Poem at the following blog spots:

April

1 Laura at Writing the World for Kids

2 Joy at Joy Acey

3 Doraine at Dori Reads

4 Diane at Random Noodling

5 Penny at A Penny and Her Jots

6 Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink

7 Liz at Elizabeth Steinglass

8 Janet F. at Live Your Poem

9 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche

10 Pat at Writer on a Horse

11 Buffy at Buffy’s Blog

12 Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty

13 Linda at TeacherDance

14 Jone at Deo Writer

15 Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme

16 Violet at Violet Nesdoly

17 Kim at Flukeprints

18 Irene at Live Your Poem

19 Charles at Charles Waters Poetry

20 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town

21 Jan at Bookseedstudio

22 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge

23 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page

24 Amy at The Poem Farm

25 Mark at Jackett Writes

26 Renee at No Water River

27 Mary Lee at Poetrepository

28 Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe

29 Sheila at Sheila Renfro

30 Donna at Mainely Write

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I tend to share a lot of special posts during National Poetry Month, but this year I’m so busy, I’m keeping things lean. I’ll still have my Poetry Friday posts – and am planning to share some very special poetry by some very special young people – but other than that, I need to focus on three new picture book manuscripts I’m working on, a new poetry collection I’ve barely started, and a New England SCBWI Conference workshop I’m leading at the end of the month!

(Oh, yeah – and I have two kids I need to take care of, as well!)

If you’re wondering what other kidlit bloggers and writers are doing for this month, please check out Jama Rattigan’s list HERE, and for all of today’s Poetry Friday posts, be sure to visit Amy at The Poem Farm!

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