Poem fragment: River-cut (a Choka)

One of the poetic forms I’ve been toying with lately is the chōka. This long-form Japanese poetic structure is one of the earliest forms of waka, and tanka derives from it. Which means it’s a very distant ancestor of haiku, that’s for sure!

Similarly to haiku and tanka, the chōka goes in alternating five- and seven-on lines, and–again like the tanka—is capped with a pair of seven-on lines (an on being a “sound unit”—normally translated to “syllable” but not quite the same). The main difference is that chōka can be of any length you wish. Historically the form was often used as a panegyric–public songs performed publicly in praise of the various Japanese kings, queens, and emperors.

M. Kei has a very informative post on the form if you’re interested in learning more: http://kujakupoet.blogspot.com/2006/05/origins-of-japanese-poetry-choka.html

This poem of mine, tentatively titled “River-cut,” started with an image of the lush hills of coastal Oregon rising from the foggy seas. I think it sounds more like the start of an epic than a complete poem in its own right, but here’s the opening so far:

River-cut

by Stewart C Baker

once was a time
when green hills rose tree-skirted
from the mist
cast up by waves and spellcraft
all along the coast
their slopes glinting, sunlit,
until all rolling
they merged with the waves below
identical
in all but their stillness
and the stags which danced
across their untouched meadows
skittish at man-smell
echoing earthbound the hawks
who wheeled and dove
to pick clams from the water
and drop them again
to shatter into fragments
on rock-dagger shoals
overrun with human sounds
as fresh-hewn ships
sleek and eager as terns
spilled from the rivers’ frothing


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Now Available at Grievous Angel: two short speculative poems

I mentioned last week that I’d sold a haiku and a tanka to Grievous Angel, a new e-zine by Charles Christian of Urban Fantasist.

Well, they’re now live!

Go check it out for yourself at http://www.urbanfantasist.com/article/new-poetry–haiku—tanka-5071

If you’re of the poetic or flash-fictional persuasion yourself, I’d also add that I received a prompt turn-around time on my submission and—just as importantly—was paid promptly upon publication.

Reprinted Tanka

Reprinted Tanka

by Stewart C Baker

(Trigger warning for gun violence)

always
this endless dissection
of histories . . .
another gun attack
bursts over the news


Originally appeared in
A Hundred Gourds

the chill
of that long-ago morning
won’t leave her . . .
on the opposite shore
a fawn watches its reflection


Originally appeared in
A Hundred Gourds

shadows
of children dancing
in the street . . .
thus do we scatter
like seeds in a hot wind


Originally published in
A Hundred Gourds

after the cull
the quiet of the forest
man doesn’t know
the universe doesn’t care
about the cost of life


Unpublished


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Published Tanka: Bamboo Hut

I have three tanka in the May issue of Bamboo Hut, an online tanka magazine. I’m not entirely sure when it went live, and don’t think I ever received an acceptance e-mail, but they are nonetheless there.

Like MoonGarlic, the haiku journal I mentioned last week, this one uses Camaléo, which is kind of weird. Hit the “full screen” button to make the embedded widget a usable size.