Haiku #44 Buzzing honey bees
Buzzing honey bees
Hover around the flowers
Bringing forth sweet dreams.
All rights reserved.
Copyright 2008 Trevor W. Hampel
To read some more of my poems click here.
Writing Occasional Verse
I think I should clarify my title: by Occasional Verse I mean poetry that has been written for a special occasion. I do NOT mean when one sometimes – or occasionally – writes some poetry.
Occasional Verse has a long tradition in places like the United Kingdom. There they appoint a significant poet with the esteemed title of Poet Laureate to produce poems for special occasions, such as a royal wedding, a sovereign’s birthday or coronation and so on. Sometimes they are great; often they are mediocre.
A popular form of occasional verse can be found in the ubiquitous greeting cards that abound these days. Most is sentimental; little is of lasting worth, though it must be said that such verse can be inspirational, comforting and touching. Other types of occasional verse are written for special openings, birthdays, weddings, funerals, Christmas, Easter and so on. I’ve even written one for a Sunday School Christmas breakup.
As a part of my studies for my Master of Arts in Creative Writing I had to write some occasional verse as an exercise. We were asked to write a set of two poems, one a haiku and the other a tanka on the occasion of the Beijing Olympic Games. There were widespread protests in Tibet before the games. Below is a copy of what I wrote.
Beijing Olympics
Handpicked athletes strive
For glory. Years of training
In their chosen sport –
Victory their golden goal.
Aches. Tears. Pain. Disappointment.Olympic fireworks,
Cheering crowds, fluttering flags.
Blood-stained dove of peace.All right reserved. Copyright 2008 Trevor W. Hampel
Tanka #1 Yellow-tailed Thornbills
Yellow-tailed Thornbills
Hopping and fluttering through
Lush grass seeking bugs,
Assorted beetles, insects
For a tasty lunch-time snack.
All rights reserved.
Copyright 2008 Trevor W. Hampel
To read more of my poetry click here.
Yellow Rumped Thornbill
Writing Tanka poetry
Tanka poems are an older form of Japanese poetry than haiku but are very similar to haiku poems, but a little longer. Like the haiku, they start with three lines of five, seven and five syllables.
The poet then adds a further two lines, each of seven syllables, making a total of 31 syllables whereas the haiku have only 17 syllables. So, in order, each line has 5 – 7 – 5 – 7 – 7 syllables.
Tanka poems are often about strong emotional subjects, like love or sadness, though this restriction is no longer the case with modern tanka written in English.
Nectarine tree blossoms
Here is a tanka poem I wrote this week.
Orchard adorned with
A pink and white petalled coat
In response to spring –
Followed quickly by green leaves
And a promise of summer fruit.
Like haiku, tanka poems are usually untitled.
Related article:
If you would like to read some more of my poetry, click here.
Good writing.
Plum tree blossoms
Haiku #43 White-winged Choughs
Strutting White-winged Choughs
Pick dried grass – moustached mouthfuls
Of mud nest lining.
All rights reserved.
Copyright 2008 Trevor W. Hampel
To read more of my poetry click here.
White Winged Chough carrying nesting material