Free (reed) Verse...

[drbones]

I have half a mind

To play my squeeze box in time

It must be the wine

 

With that being said

I’ll just simply go to bed

Oh my aching head

 

I'll wake and feel good

Until I've well understood

I have half a mind

[JimLucas]

Circus here today.

Clown playing concertina.

Wonderful music.

[JimLucas]

This one is a bit early... or a bit late, for those in the southern hemisphere:

Sweet sounds echoing...

Concertina melody.

Spring is in the air.

Neither haiku nor Limerick:

Synonyms?

Concertina design.

Pure genius.

Immaculate conception.

One with no concertina content:

Difficult verse form:

Mathematic phobia...

Must count syllables.

And returning to Limericks:

"Here's a great concertina to buy.

Will you bid?"

"No, I daren't even try.

Not on your life,

Without asking the wife.

But if she says 'no', then I'll cry."

[michael sam wild]

I think everyone must be familiar with the limerick, but for those who don't know, a haiku is a very strict form. It need not rhyme, but it must consist of three lines, of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively. E.g.,

 

 

Just been on Wickipedia. As I suspected it's all been a bit lost in translation ( it says ave length in English is 13 syllables)but I'll go along with the Western 5,7, 5, though I prefer the spirit of the haiku ( plural of haikai = verses) to any strict format, where they say it should be done in one breath and have a seasonal theme.

 

 

So here goes , it's a bit like 'legato' on the Anglo! 'One breath'

 

 

Borne on the prevailing wind

of ancient currents

but eddies lift us

[michael sam wild]

This takes me back a bit to the late 50s, when, as a teenager from Moss Side, Manchester , I went to live, with a few books, a tent and a bugbag and a primus and a mess tin - like Yeats , on a 'Lake Isle of Inisfree', in a small house of mud and wattles made ( before I ran out of money and food !). - with aspirations to be a poet. There was no signing on then as 'An Artist'

 

 

Matsuo Basho 1644 composed 1000 known haiku he wandered as a poor teacher and encapsulated scenes in a few simple elements. A bit like an old bard, like Carolan.

 

 

In old age he tended to be a recluse and rejected visitors from his hut

 

There are various Western translations of his verses e.g. www.haikupoetshut

 

A few I really love

 

now then lets go out

to enjoy the snow

while I slip and fall

 

an ancient pond

a frog jumps in

the splash of water!

 

see in plain daylight

the firefly is nothing but

an insect

 

I like this

 

even in Kyoto

how I long for Kyoto

when the cuckoo sings

 

 

 

I once 'transliterated' this ( 1962) as:

 

even in Clare

I seek Clare

when the music plays

[fidjit]

Rhomylly said:

kudos to all the poets who have figured out without hearing it pronounced that Rhomylly has 3 syllables. I'm not usually so lucky!

 

Three syllables; still, I feel silly.

Is it "RHO-myl-ly", or is it "Rho-MIL-ly"?

Or might it just be

She says, "Rho-my LEE",

Or even takes them by lots, willy nilly?

 

And I hope she takes the following joint effort as the flattery it's meant to be, rather than as plagiarism.

...concertina playing is an awesome pursuit and the nicest people in the world do it!

 

Concertina playing is an awesome pursu-it

And the nicest people in the world do it!

With good cheer and decorum

They meet in the Forum,

And post posts when they get around to it.

 

 

Pinned to the noticeboard at the local club.

 

Notice

At great expense the club has bought in a gross of "Roundtowits"

Sub committee members who haven't got around to it may apply to the secretary.

[JimLucas]

Notice

At great expense the club has bought in a gross of "Roundtowits"

Sub committee members who haven't got around to it may apply to the secretary.

Student:

"So four half-wits make a two-wit?

 

Teacher:

"Only if you round up."

[fidjit]

Notice

At great expense the club has bought in a gross of "Roundtowits"

Sub committee members who haven't got around to it may apply to the secretary.

Student:

"So four half-wits make a two-wit?

 

Teacher:

"Only if you round up."

 

A round two it is different to a square to it.

 

Depends on where you hold your hands,

[drbones]

I just don’t get it

when people try to stop me

pulling and squeezing

 

They may hate the noise

But I really could care less

I let them suffer

 

They get all upset

They hiss, boo and sometimes cry

I just keep playing

 

Blood comes from their ears

Sometimes their heads will explode

Clean up on aisle five

[drbones]

Stopped to play a tune

A crowd started to listen

I apologized

 

They tried to be nice

And then they started to fight

It was all my fault

 

Like a hockey game

The tones rendered them insane

They had all gone nuts

 

Bones and teeth breaking

And I just kept on playing

A very long tune

 

When the cops showed up

I got up and walked away

My work here was done