Worst enemy, or: Mostly harmless

A sijo

Gleaming through the color of night, 
A burst pierces dark heavens;
On battlefield Earth, humans war, 
Swept away by fears and greeds;
Ruptured, dying, the planet whispers: 
I... I know who killed me.

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Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

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d’Verse poetics: A Razzie or two!

At d’Verse, writers were encouraged to incorporate at least one of the following movie titles into their poems:

• Shining Through (1982);
• The Lonely Lady (1983);
• Under the Cherry Moon (1986);
• Cocktail (1988);
• Indecent Proposal (1993);
• Color of Night (1994);
• Showgirls (1995);
• The Postman (1997);
• Battlefield Earth (2000);
• Swept Away (2002);
• Catwoman (2004);
• I Know Who Killed Me (2007);
• Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

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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!