俳句中文 – paiju zhongwen

Because I can, I decided to write a Chinese haiku, or a paiju zhongwen (俳句中文), as it were. This one is exceptionally simple, because my Chinese vocabulary is as of yet very limited. But I wanted to try my hand at it and make a nice, simple, childlike poem using simplified Chinese characters. I’m happy with it.

这里是晚上。
现在她在做晚饭。
晚饭很好吃。

Here is the pinyin romanization of the characters above. Note the 5-7-5 syllable construction:

zheli shi wanshang.
xianzai ta zai zuo wanfan.
wanfan hen hao chi.

And finally, for those who cannot read Chinese, the transliteration of this ridiculously simple text:

This is the evening.
Now she is cooking dinner.
Dinner tastes delicious.

First Kokinshu

This is a series of Kokinshu (Japanese poetry structure) that I wrote last year for Otto 2009, the annual literary magazine of Tunxis Community College. Enjoy.

1

Gloomy, murky day
Blustery, stormy, frigid,
Untamed autumn child;
Souls absent; creatures hidden;
Humans harbored within nests.

2

Sun, shining upon
Wind-blown water, ripples wave
To nearby children;
Chipmunks sprint atop fences,
Heated quads welcome cold guests.

3

Inundated by
Gusts of wind, gold; red; orange
Slivers of leaves dance
In midair. While humans gaze,
Trees bow left and right with grace.

4

Hardened ice is born,
Extinguishing fragile life;
Strong creatures sheltered.
Outside to frolic by day,
Children dress to stave off cold.

5

Humble amber globe,
Peeking briefly above sea;
Rising early to
Catch it, or blackness greets
Cicadas; land comes alive!

6

Milky mat masks soil,
Boreal beasts roam about;
Wisely vigilant,
Bodies cascade in groups down
Mountainside paths, decked in snow.

7

Golden disc hiding
Far southward in the cold sky;
Faintly glowing sight,
Beings haloed with bright glow,
Brisk cold grips extremities.

Summer Activities

I had a new (better) idea, so I must amend my summer plans.

My goal is to write a new poem each day, and a new short fiction scene in a world I will create. The goal will be to amass a substantial body of poetry work and to finish a large fictional story arc by the end of the summer.

That should be a fun journey, and maybe I can get some people on the hook with that story as well.