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.
Hint: An easy way to check on new post comments is with RSS reader, if you use one. Here’s the address: https://bigtentpoetry.org/comments/feed.
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.
Although we love seeing our badge in the sidebar of your blog, we would appreciate it if you would also link back to the site in each of your poem posts. Linking within your post helps people travel back and forth from your site to the Big Tent Poetry site, and it helps perpetuate Big Tent Poetry “findability” in Google searches — and that helps us all.