A Choka
time and time again feet both frozen to the ground I hear myself gasp panic mode activated eyes watch in horror whenever someone nearby loses their balance trips sways then topples over gray matter perceives crisis but fails to react even after they've tumbled
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
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 “gasp” 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 🇮🇱 
Really love this one. Sometimes we can see signs a person is falling/failing but we don’t know how to help them or slow it. When they finally fall it feels like we should have done something, when in reality, there’s nothing we can do. Everyone is on their own path.
🖤🙏🏻 Bridgette 🙏🏻🖤 ~ you are so right
~David
An excellent poem, David. The form lesson was a welcome bonus. Wonderfully done (x2).
🧡🙏🏻 Bill 🙏🏻🧡 ~ thanks so much
I felt this gasp of a moment.
💕🙏🏻 De 🙏🏻💕 ~ thanks!
~David
I have experienced this.
💞🙏🏻 Punam 🙏🏻💞 ~ thanks; glad to know I’m not alone
🤗❤️
I finally investigated the Choka form a bit more David. Fascinating! Thank you for introducing it to me. We should include the Choka in the rotation at diverse — maybe every third Tuesday… 👍🏼🙂✌🏼🫶🏼
💘🙏🏻 Rob 🙏🏻💘 ~ I like its relative flexibility!
That’s a horrible feeling to feel frozen like that, David.
It makes me think of the sleep paralysis my daughter was talking about last night.
what does sleep paralysis mean, Merril?
Oh–it’s when you’re kind of awake, but your body is still asleep and you can’t move. You might hallucinate, too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
I often have lucid dreams, but not sleep paralysis, but daughter often has sleep paralysis.
ommigosh… that is scary!
It is the first time David, but after a couple times you recognize it. At times it happens to me at the very end of a nightmare, immediately before finally waking — that gets pretty unsettling. However, nothing compares to pure night terrors. Not a dream, just a paralyzing feeling of bloodcurdling terror — with no dream. Hard to wake up when it is occurring. So intense, I am terrified to return yo sleep, often needing to take a lorazepam. Have them once or twice a month since I was a child. Suppose to outgrow them, but I never have. Isn’t sleeping and dreaming fun… 😱
Holy shamoley!
Ah yes…sometimes its the sugar level…sometimes its blood pressure. But it happens. And as well the lookers on may freeze up at the sudden happening.
Nice one David and thanks for dropping by my blog.
Much💜love
🧡🙏🏻 Gillena 🙏🏻🧡
👏👏
💗🙏🏻 M Jay 🙏🏻💗
I carry a cane when out for walks, for balance. And for keeping straight, otherwise I veer to the right out in the grass. I talked with two other older folk today, they also have balance problems. I think the COVID made mine worse.
..
💘 😳 Jim 😳 💘 ~ wow; I am sorry to hear that. How unfortunate 😕
~David