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Haiku Fridays So, every Friday on Facebook... a growing number of my real life friends are participating in what one of them has deemed "Haiku Fridays". They are nothing like actual haiku, except that they have the correct syllable count in English. I'm going to start doing this with them... here is the latest from one of my friends. ------------- haikus are easy but sometimes they don't make sense refrigerator ~Robyne Aument -------------- I love my silly, goofy friends. They make life worth living!! ~Rachel

Bloomin' Onion Get a big fat yellow onion cut top flat, peel outer layer, flat down, slice like a flower keep root intact, ice for an hour. Spread the blossom open wide Dip into batter of flour, water, kosher salt and chili powder. Deep fry til golden and tender. ~~Judi Van Gorder

"Haiku is a way of letting God know we are paying attention." Margaret D McGee, Haiku - the sacred art I am trying to write something everyday but my varied schedule & responsibilities aren't conducive to setting aside a "writing time" ( or maybe I don't have the discpline). I do however find myself responding to moments in my day with haiku-like thoughts. So......... I decided to start a haiku journal... Haiku seems to me to be a perfect vehicle for capturing daily responses since brevitiy and clarity are at the heart of the form. My initial goal is to write & post at least one haiku a day. I probably will have many lapses but only time will tell. I thought I'd share this idea with you all and invite you to join me sharing your own haiku moments here when your heart moves you. A "haiku moment:: A moment when the mind stops and the heart moves."*Margaret D McGee This haiku thread will be a little different from the "haiku train" which builds on others' word images. Here haikus should simply be responses to a moment in time. So as a reminder with an overly simplified definition, haiku is: 17 syllables or less image driven written in the moment shared parallel images. Traditionally in 3 units, 1. an image 2. a parallel or an expansion of the image 3. the human enlightenment or Ah ha moment. often written in a 5/7/5 syllable frame but that is not a hard and fast rule. Although I have to admit I find the 5/7/5 frame seems to naturally finds its way into most of my haiku give or take a syllable. often called senryu (haiku exploiting human nature with a humorous slant) when funny and funny is always welcome here. I really hope to see you contribute your haiku in this thread along with me. ~~Tink

Comfort From the Rain The spring rain brings a chill that calls for a pot of homemade soup. I chop fresh veggies, anything I can find, carrots, onion, cabbage, broccoli, potato, cauliflower, tomatoes, add some salsa, herbs de Provence, garlic, broth, and more broth, salt and pepper, and allow to simmer. Nothing like when trekking the Pacific Crest Trail during an unexpected storm, hunkering down inside a one-person tent, opening a packet of freeze-dried veggies, adding some water, and heating over a Solo stove to create a cup of hot nourishment. And yet . . . . the satisfaction and gratitude will be the same. ~~Judi Van Gorder Wild by Cheryl Strayed Prompt: Book report—subtly (or overtly) incorporate a book report or response into a poem about something else. (If you name the book, avoid spoilers!)

March 5, National Pasty DayI find it odd in the US,a Cornish dish "Pasty"is celebrated with a "Day".It is today.Tasty!My Mom made the best of the best here in the west,Delight!Meat, turnip and potato pieIt makes me sigh, one bite! ~~Judi Van Gorder Verse Form: Logolift It has been a long while, but I made a pasty today, YUM!

Way behind got some catching up to do. I know impossible, but anything I can write even this bad is a gift to me. Killing two birds, a new form which I found the rhythm awkward. Appetite One dishfried fishMade portion smallWon't eat allHit a wallComplains of noxious smellHe's never eaten wellNo more dinner bellI'll try some gelA new era has arrivedHis appetite took a dive Ensure is keeping him alivefor now he is revivedand thankfully he will survive ~~jvg A Ziggurat

sticky rice readyscallops sizzle in butterbrowning nicelyurgent call from the bedroom another scorched meal ~~jvg

La Moulin de la Galette, Pastry Chef Renoir concocts a delicacy from another time, a Napoleon, "mille feuille", a thousand leaves, rich with the cream of humanity gathered close, layered with intimacy from a touch, an embrace, the crush of a crowd where one must lean in to converse and savor words spoken over dance music served with a dash of romance. Generations and genders plated with a master chef's hand and presented with French panache. ~~ Judi Van Gorder Notes: ▼ Original posted for National Poetry Writing Month in the Playground. I've made a couple of revisions and decided to post it in the Showcase where it is more likely to be read. April 28: poem based on a well-known painting or photograph (& provide a link to it!) La Moulin de la Gallete

Here you will find various prompts to hopefully jumpstart your poetic fingers into writing. Try for daily writing time, but even a weekly poem is better than nothing at all Setting up a regular routine for writing can result in a lot of poems written on the fly, often without fine tuning. But it also can spark the beginnings of a new poem that can be honed later. What the challenge does is, it inspires writing. Any one can jump in when and if the prompt moves them. If you are so inspired go ahead and share your prompted poem in the thread and identify which prompt you followed. Of if it turns out a winner maybe share it in Member's Poetry where it will be commented on. I will do my best to add the prompts and forms here in this thread in case someone here could benefit from a little nudge. Don't expect me to be punctual with the prompts No judges here, just nudges. ~~Tink

The Fifty Dollar Tomato My small plot of land cleared and tilled. Potting soil added and tilled again, groomed with enthusiasm and sweat then deeply watered making ready. Just fifteen dollars for plants then, twenty-four dollars for the soil, twenty for towers, plus the tax, about fifty bucks, total debt. Starters need sun, water and toil, fog from the ocean, not great help. Still I attempt to sow my own, anticipate growth and relax. My favorite food without yelp, home-grown, succulent tomato. Small green orbs promising, prolific, waiting for turn to the red zone. Growing season beats staccato nearing the end and yet I've willed the fruit to transform, change steady. Finally, one red-ripe tomato, terrific! ~~ Judi Van Gorder Verse Form: Domino Rhyme

Ode to Oats Steam bowls off the bubbling mound of my morning oatmeal waiting patiently to be smothered by butter oozing into its oaty crevices and the soothing rivulets of pearly milk. A smatter of raisins stirred in, renders a tart sweetness to tickle my taste buds. Sustenance to savor. ~~Judi Van Gorder Revision Dumped Ode to Oats (revision) Steam bowls off the bubbling mound of my morning oatmeal waiting patiently to be smothered by butter oozing into its oaty crevices and soothing rivulets of pearly milk. A smatter of raisins stirred in, renders a tart sweetness to tickle my taste buds. Sustenance to savor. ~~Judi Van Gorder Notes: ▼

Feed the Hungry They wait patiently in line to later dine, so they stand. Tuesday morning in my town means brown paper bags with canned foods and local farmer's fare, caring turns a helping hand. ~~Judi Van Gorder Notes: ▼

Come on OverGood times,friends, familygather for Barbeque,warm sunshine with shady retreatunder the redwoods near my rose garden.Cold beer and sweet tea, sate our thirst,pot of chili, burgers,salads galore,good times. ~~Judi Van Gorder Verse Form: Rictameter

Van Gogh's Basket of PotatoesA woven basket, well wornand filled to overflowingwith potatoes freshly dug from dark dirt,hung somberlyon the gallery wall. My finger tipscake with dust.The grit of the earthpricks my noseand smudges my soul.Amongst brilliantpaintings of windmillsand sunflowersthis subdued, simplicity,pared to its base,guides my brush. ~~Judi Van Gorder Vincent Van Gogh's Basket of Potatoes

April is National Poetry Month Many poetry sites are encouraging writing a poem a day. This thread is my daily poems for April. Comments are welcome Please join me in creating your own thread of daily poems, it is never too late to get writing. ~~Tink

Tuesdays in the Church Parking Lot Cigarettes and paper cups half-full of steaming coffee warm chilled fingers while faded characters in frayed levis turn their backs to the street to avoid stares of passers-by and wait . . . . . Arms fill with brown paper bags bearing boxes of cereal, eggs, home-grown produce, rice and assorted cans then they vanish, only to return and wait. . . . on Tuesday morning. - Judi Van Gorder

Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry Greek Verse Acrostic, Greek for "at the tip of the verse". is a poetic technique or device that dates back to 1000 BC in ancient Babylonia. The first letter of each line or stanza spells out a name, a word, the title of the work or even a sentence or phrase. Ben Jonson created an acrostic as an intro to his classic play, The Alchemist, spelling out the title in his argument. The skill is in disguising the acrostic so that it is not obvious. In modern times, this form is most often used as light verse and occasional poetry. But how exciting to read a serious piece in stanzas, and upon explication discover an acrostic stanza within its midst, giving emphasis to a name, title, phrase etc. I wonder if our subconscious reads the acrostic, even when we are not aware. The elements of the Acrostic are: written without prescribed meter, rhyme, line #, or length, but all can be structured at the poet's discretion. written with the 1st letter of each line within the stanza spelling out an acronym, name, title, phrase, or sentence. Poets have even placed the acrostic within the poem such as the first letter of the first line, the first letter of the 2nd word in the 2nd line, the first letter of the 3rd word in the 3rd line and so on………… often used for light verse or occasional poetry, but can be very effectively inserted into a serious piece. The Argument (Intro to the classic play The Alchemist by Ben Jonson (1572-1637) THE SICKNESS hot, a master quit, for fear, His house in town, and left one servant there; Ease him corrupted, and gave means to know A Cheater and his punk; who now brought low, Leaving their narrow practice, were become Coz'ners at large; only wanting some House to set up, with him they here contract, Each for a share, and all begin to act. Much company they draw, and much abuse, In casting figures, telling fortunes, news, Selling of flies, flat bawdre, with the stone, Till it, and they, and all in fume are gone. --Ben Jonson writes this acrostic predominantly in iambic pentameter with rhyme. sublime by Judi Van Gorder a hidden message consciously placed, raising awareness by the tapping of the mind's subconscious resource to patiently influence thought, caress the imagination. secretly ranting slogans uttering personal praise leading gently by eloquent execution. August by Judi Van Gorder avacados ripen upon heaving limbs while a gecko skitters up a plaster wall under the palapa roof and chicadas sing their tenored song.... Nanook's Journey by Frank Gibbard Purple Pen by Judi Van Gorder Tepkunset by Judi Van Gorder Sub genres of the Acrostic are: Acrostic Sonnet is simply writing any sonnet form with the addition of adding an acrostic phrase or word from the initial letters of the lines. Abacedarius is an Acrostic with the letters of the alphabet appearing in the initial letter of each line rather than a word, name or phrase. This use of the acrostic was thought to connect the secular with the holy and can be found further described in Semitic Poetry. Adagem is a variation of the Acrostic in which the first word of each line conveys a message when read downwards. Compound Acrostic spells different words down the first letter of each line margin and last letter margin. Double Acrostic or Mirrored Acrostic was a popular verse in the 1800s apparently spurred by Queen Victoria's favoritism. She is said to have used this technique in her own writing. It was sometimes viewed more as a puzzle to be solved than a verse form. The verse can either spell the same word down the first letter of each line margin and the last letter of each line margin or spell a word or phrase down the first letter of the line and another word or phrase up the last letter of the line. This piece is said to have been written by Queen Victoria and was found at Poems of Today and Yesterday NapleS ElbE WashingtoN CincinnatI AmsterdaM StambouL TorneA LepantO EcliptiC Mesostich spells a word down the middle letter of each line of the poem. Pruntiform is a recent invented acrostic form created by Randy Prunty in which the words of the first line of the poem are sequentially the first word of each subsequent line. The structure of the poem is at the discretion of the poet. You can also use the title of a book, movie or poem (with 3 or more words in the title), begin each line of your poem with the sequential words from the title. The subject could describe the book etc named or it could be about anything. The frame of the verse is at the discretion of the poet. Unnoticed by Judi Van Gorder Water does not remove the stain For it is deep and indelible. Elephants dance in the attic. Spine Poem is a relatively new invented form of acrostic. It appears to be an exercise sometimes used in classrooms. You really don't write anything at all. It is a technique of stacking books so that their spines line up creating line of the poem with their titles. The trick is to line up titles which sequentially might actually make a little sense or tell a story. Children's book titles seem to work best. Where the wild things are 10 little monkeys jumping on the bed Goodnight moon. Telestich, sometimes referred to as a Citsorca ("acrostic" spelled backwards) is the exact opposite of an acrostic. A word or phrase is created from the last letter of each line. Indigo by Judi Van Gorder (a telestich) Need to cast off the ennui, the inertia of seven long days of the flu, a dead lump like too much chili in my stomach, roiling, urging me to go. Triple Acrostic was also found at Poems of Today and Yesterday and was understandably rare. As the name implies the letters of the right margin, the center of the line and the left margin each spell out a phrase. These were apparently found in Puzzle books of the early 20th century.