MONDAY PROMPT/ September 20
This week’s prompt
Write a travel log in which you encounter a mythical creature. You can write the poem as free verse if you like, but if you want an extra challenge, write your encounter as a “haibun.” If you prefer, you can ignore the mythical creature entirely, and write your haibun about an actual trip you have been on.
Haibun, a form that originated in Japan, combines prose with haiku to describe a journey and very often an epiphany. The prose (think prose poem) sections are built around images, and the language is precise enough to capture only the essence of what is being described. The haiku that follow are only loosely connected to the prose.
Since you only have a few days to write, don’t sweat the details. Attempt one prose section and its accompanying haiku. Work with the spirit of haibun instead of fretting about things like, “Oh, no! I don’t have an ephiphany!” or “Yikes! My haiku is too obviously connected to my prose!”
The poet most known for haibun is Basho, and you can find some of his poems here. There are also many contemporary examples here and here.
Have fun!
How prompts work under the Big Tent
We post prompts on Mondays, and you have all week to write your poems, based on our fabulous prompt or any other inspiration. Come back on Friday when you will find a “Come One, Come All” post where you can use the comments section to 1) leave a link to your poem or 2) leave the poem in its entirety.
You’ll have all day Friday (and all weekend!) to post your work and read each others’ work. Take your time. Enjoy all the poems that are new to the world.
Some hints
Hint: We’ve set Big Tent Poetry to Central Time.
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Hint: Since we’re a new site, and you’re new to it, your comment(s) will be held for moderation for your first few posts. We’re checking the filters often, so don’t despair! That said, if it takes more than a half a day to see it come live on the site, do email us at info (at) bigtentpoetry.org. (But be patient, okay?)
Circus etiquette
We figure you know how to play in the poetry community, but here are the basics:
Be nice. Have fun. Remember we aren’t a critique forum. We want to support each other as we bring more poetry into our lives. Only provide critique if someone specifically asks for it.
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I had fun with this!
http://rinklyrimes.blogspot.com/2010/09/other.html
Wait until Friday to post, Rinkly. :-)
I’m really looking forward to this. I love the combination idea, and adore poetry that is sparing of flim-flam.
Sorry! Too eager. I’ll post again on Friday! I never was good at reading the small print!
[...] notes: Thanks to Carolee over at Big Tent Poetry, I learnt a new form, the haibun. It’s a hybrid of prose (with images) and haiku loosely [...]
I’m posting my poem here as I’ll be away for a few days.
a girl in Tokyo
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The morning fog embraces the land, then slowly returns west to his pacific wife, clearing the streets, leaving them misty & cool for my walk to the cafe. The note from Kathyrn Marie rattled me, then brought peace: she is getting married. She has found her Sugar Daddy, & sounded happy.
The walk itself is therapeutic, a half hour when no one talks to me, through this town where there are no ghosts for me to conjure up. Even in the cafe there is a new girl behind the counter, Suzanne back to teaching after a summer of serving me. The new girl is tall, very pretty with pale, freckled skin, short dyed red hair (like Kathryn-Marie’s only edgy). When I asked her name she said “Leigh” — like me, only spelled different — or was there something else?
grey day returns to the sea
redhead serving coffee
is the sunrise I miss.
[...] Doors are Closing This week’s Big Tent Poetry prompt (which I almost missed, due to being so busy this week I forgot to check the Monday prompt until [...]
[...] is for Big Tent Poetry’s challenge to write a haibun about travel and an encounter with an imaginary creature. I love haibun, though my approach has [...]
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