A Choka
Punch-drunk love sours to white wine vinegar over years, as tensions spike at home... voices drip acid upon the floor tiles... brother and sister tripping over themselves in familiar apprehension... their little feet, hearts pounding the stairs to safety... "F**k!" He raises the bottle.
Choka?
The most intricate Japanese Poetry form is the Choka, or Long Poem. The early form consisted of a series of katauta joined together. This gives a choice of form structures of 5/7/5/5/7/7… etc., or: 5/7/7/5/7… etc.
The Choka could be any total line length and indeed many exceeded 100 lines. Looking at this, it is easy to see why Poetic Historians believe the katauta is the original basic unit of Japanese poetry using either the 17 or 19 unit onji.
d’Verse Quadrille #160
The above choka is my take on d’Verse’s Quadrille challenge.
The Quadrille is simply a poem of 44 words (excluding the title), and it can take any form. This week’s challenge was to use the word “punch” in a Quadrille.
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 🇮🇱 
I like this. I’m fascinated by this Choka form. It’s new to me.
💚🙏🏻 Lesley 🙏🏻💚
👀
🙏 ❤ Selma ❤ 🙏
It saddens my heart to know that many children experience this.
😢🙏🏻 Ali 🙏🏻😢 ~ mine too
David,
A gut punch of a post! Your title nails it.
Susan 😉
💜🙏🏻 Susan 🙏🏻💜
Sad story. Lots of tension here. All too familiar.
😢🙏🏻 Mary 🙏🏻😢
Oh, I can feel the tension in this. Well done.
💞🙏🏻 De 🙏🏻💞 ~ thanks for the prompt 👍🏻
Well done!
💓🙏🏻 Reena 🙏🏻💓
A sad reality for many that you have articulated so well, David!
☹️🙏🏻 Punam 🙏🏻☹️
A heart-breaking choka, David, and sadly familiar. I love the acidic tone.
😟🙏🏻 Kim 🙏🏻😟
Horror and Hellhouses
A heartbreaking story
😞🙏🏻 Abi 🙏🏻😞
You are the boss my friend.
For writing in the worst of times.
🙏🏼