Tuesday poem: Senryu
November 14, 2017
camera catches
side-eye and grimace
‘say rictus!’
PS Cottier
Rictus makes a nice change from cheese, anyway. And here is a totally unrelated image, although it also uses the word ‘side’. A triumph of signage, and not a bad title for a poetry collection!
Tuesday Poem: Cactus
November 6, 2017
Cactus
Spiky camel hump, buried in sand.
Alien artichoke, Martian’s lunch.
I’m told to admire your
‘architectural qualities’. As if
we build houses of needles,
like one of those three little pigs
gone crazy, his brain curling,
dizzy, to match pale gimlet tail.
What huffing
fire-mouthed dragon
could blow you down?
Crooked eyes only, crave cacti.
Yet, every few years, you explode
into a neon gown of Brazilian hues
pulsating, pink or gold, as at Mardi Gras.
When poor become princes,
and thin desert blooms.
PS Cottier
An ancient poem this one, if ten years qualifies as ancient. My cactus just bloomed, hence my digging it (the poem) up.
***
I just had two poems published in issue 23 of Failed Haiku, which is a great name for a journal. It refers to senryu, which are like haiku but quirkier. The home page is definitely worth a visit, for links to information about senryu, and so you can download the issues. I won’t link to the PDF of issue 23 (November 2017) here, but it is easily accessed at the site. The editor, Mike Rehling, also makes some interesting comments about senryu that particularly caught his eye.
PS Cottier 