The Wordsmith's Forge

This haiku collection is spillover from the March 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from scrubjayspeaks. It also fills the "Wisdom" square in my 3-1-25 card for the Tolkien Bingo Fest. This collection has been sponsored by Anthony Barrette.

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This is today's second freebie, prompted by jake67jake.


short poetic forms
are like truffles: always leave
readers wanting more

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Notes:

A traditional Japanese haiku is a three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. Often focusing on images from nature, haiku emphasizes simplicity, intensity, and directness of expression.

These poems came out of the January 2, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl. They were inspired by a prompt from scrubjayspeaks. They also fill the "West-Running Brook" square in my 1-1-24 card for the Public Domain Day Bingo fest. These poems have been sponsored by Anthony Barrette.

Warning: These poems are all about various types of violent weather and other natural disasters. If that's a touchy topic for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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These haiku were written outside the regular prompt calls. They have been sponsored by Anthony Barrette.

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This poem is spillover from the February 7, 2023 Poetry Fishbowl. It has been sponsored by Strawberry Ryan (he/him) of the_broken_tower. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.

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This is the second freebie, thanks to new prompter greghousesgf.  It also fills the "I Feel at Home With You" square in my 1-1-23 card for the Public Domain Bingo fest.


"I Feel at Home with You"
-- an indriso


I feel at home with you, my heart and soul
Flung wide like spider silk across the sky
To span the gap between us, pole to pole.

We are two willows dancing, you and I,
Athwart a forest spread between us, whole
And green beneath the summer sun's keen eye.

The miles part us. Tears fall two by two.

Yet through it all, I feel at home with you.



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Notes:

The indriso is a condensed version of a sonnet.

These are the notes for New Year Haiku 12-27-20.

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This poem came out of the January 5, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman. It also fills the "Hope" square in my 1-3-21 card for the Fresh Starts Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by librarygeek. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.

Warning: Salty language ahead.

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This batch of poems was written outside the regular prompt calls. They are presented here as a holiday gift for Anthony and Shirley Barrette. This batch is the fourth of five seasonal sets of haiku based on my favorite kigo page. Begin with the spring, summer, and autumn batches.

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This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls, inspired by a comment from zeeth_kyrah.  It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette.


"What Hatred Never Learns"
-- a villanelle


Wisdom often teaches what hatred never learns:
War is not peacekeeping, and safety never comes.
If you fight fire with fire, the whole world burns.

Some leaders bark and bicker, while the chaos churns;
They think the land will prosper underneath their thumbs.
Wisdom often teaches what hatred never learns.

These are the wages that abuse of power earns:
What the leadership does, society becomes.
If you fight fire with fire, the whole world burns.

If leaders wield compassion, acting on concerns,
Integrity will flourish; tyranny succumbs.
Wisdom often teaches what hatred never learns.

Priests or kings or generals tramping down the ferns,
It doesn't really matter whence the power comes:
If you fight fire with fire, the whole world burns.

Peace will always flee from the hand that grasps and yearns,
But wait a bit -- you'll find it, sitting down like chums.
Wisdom often teaches what hatred never learns.
If you fight fire with fire, the whole world burns.