Lunar events

Richard Schear photo

Grace has introduced the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads to the short haiku-like poem called the Lune (French for moon) which is sometimes called the American haiku.

Two versions exist, one created deliberately, one accidentally. We will look at and experiment with both of them for the 21st day of Real Toads' poem-a-day challenge for April. Many Toads are also posting to NaPoWriMo as well.

1. The Kelly Lune

Robert Kelly, an American poet, felt that adhering to the strict form of Japanese haiku (5-7-5 syllables) in English, creates a different poem than the Japanese intention. He invented the Lune to remove these differences, and the only requirement is a 5-3-5 syllable count: thus each lune has thirteen syllables: one for each month of the lunar year.

2. The Collom Lune

Jack Collom created his version by accident. He misremembered Kelly's 5-3-5 syllables as 3-5-3 words, and as he was teaching children, it turned out to be a good thing. "As a happy coincidence," says Grace, "this variation made it easier for kids to create Lunes, since words are easier to count than syllables."

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a) The Kelly Lune

Never one to follow orders, I have taken Kelly's thirteen syllables, minus his per-line count, and played with Lunes to resemble (slightly) a half-moon or a crescent moon shape.

thirteen months in a

lunar year, or so

I hear here

25th day 

of this april, a

full moon we’ll see

Properly, however, the Kelly Lune should be 13 syllables arranged thus:

melancholy babe

come to me,

see what we can be

b) The Collum Lune

Richard Schear photo

As it is for children, so it is for the elderly: words are easier to count than are syllables.

For example:

one sad and sorry Sunday

she reclined alone

and thought of lost love

And, like one of Collum's students, I am more interested in playing around with the new things I've learned today than I am in writing serious poetry.

one bright and sunny Sunday

she walked alone

and thought of white clouds

and then it was pointed out to me that I misremembered how Collum misremembered the Kelly Lune. Collum's should be 3-5-3, which doesn't add up to 13 at all, so here goes another try...

she reclined alone

one sad and sorry Sunday,

without her love

she walked alone

one bright and sunny Sunday

beneath blue sky

Kay Davies, April 21, 2013