An American sentence:
A poem about absolutely nothing should have very few words.
What’s an ‘American Sentence’?
Allen Ginsberg, inventor of the American Sentence, felt that the haiku didnโt work as well in English. Ginsberg decided to remove the line structure of the haiku, maintaining the requirement of 17 syllables total. He felt that removing the line count freed the American Sentence up for the idiosyncrasies of English phonemes.
The requirements:
- Composed in one line;
- Syllabic, 17 syllables;
- Condensed, written with no unnecessary words or articles;
- Complete sentence or sentences;
- Includes a turn or enlightenment.
Let’s write poetry together!
When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.
–Ben Harper (b. 1969)
Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!
The Skeptic's Kaddish ๐ฎ๐ฑ 
No words, wordless
a
conundrum
Mais oui
HAHA! Good one. But writers often change nothing to something with much gusto. Writers just can’t shut up. ๐
๐ Terveen ๐ – a true conundrum!
-David
…but a TV show about nothing can go 9 seasons
๐ Ron ๐ – that is SO true! A comment that is both wise, sad, and funny!
-David
P.S. how have you been? Thanks for sending me the photos from your trip abroad!
If a poem has any words it is about something!!
Damn it!
Hereโs another song
๐ถ Nice, Kerfe ๐ถ
I love that your sentence inspired so much music. It’s a good topic.
This reminded me of their quote
โI have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorterโ
Blaise Pascal
That’s awesome, Jim. Thanks for sharing – I got a chuckle this afternoon ๐
Itโs 5am in the afternoon in Israel and Washington.
It is a funny quote. Especially after seeing some 1000 word responses to a yes/no question.
3:00 PM here now.
I’m several cups of Joe into the day.
Hmmm – now I have the song ‘We’re busy doing Nothing’ playing in my head!
This one?
Or this one?
The first one! (I don’t even know who Ace Wilder is!). ๐
I found a third one too:
Not sure how to post this, but here’s another one! (From the Christopher Robin film).
you posted it successfully ๐
Okay. I’m off to be busy doing nothing now! Have a good day.โค
๐ค Selma ๐ค
A poem about absolutely nothing should have nothing at all! But I tried it out once:
https://theforgersoffantasy.art.blog/2021/07/09/the-land-of-nothingness/
well done ๐
this is my favorite part by far:
Yep (Well, that was intended to add a ‘lil twist and catch your attention!) ๐
Random question: is something wrong with your ‘space bar’? Sometimes your comments seem to be missing spaces, which makes them hard (for me) to read, which is why I’m asking.
โค
David