Saturday, January 7, 2017

Hoarfrost


Good morning dear reader
Here is today's offering. The prompt over at Dverse is to write a Choka. The Choka or Long Poem is believed to be the most intricate of Japanese poetry and was used to tell a story; many were epic with over 100 lines. This form was popular between the 1st and 13th centuries, the earliest example was discovered in the 1st century and described a battle. It was 149 lines long. The Choka had a tradition of being recited in a high-pitched voice.
This form is based on a series of Katauta joined together. The Katauta is considered the basic unit of Japanese poetry using either the 17 (5-7-5) unit onji or the 19 (5-7-7) unit onji. In Western terms an onji is what we call a syllable. Many of us are familiar with these particular onji as we have used them in writing haiku, tanka and sedoka. The Choka is an unrhymed poem alternating five and seven syllables that ends with an extra seven syllable line.
I hope you enjoy this poem.

Rod E. Kok
January 7, 2017


Cold winter morning
nature stays quietly still
hoarfrost sits on trees
Deathly quiet shrouds our world
wintry paradise
man and beast slumber in peace
Eastern sun ascends
western darkness disappears
soft light emerges
Morning birds find their voices
mankind breaks his fast
creatures arise searching food
Frigid day passes
time moves slowly in this chill
dusky haze moves in
Clear dark sky predicting cold
no cloudy blanket
man and beast prepare to sleep
The land rests silent
winter’s bleak night becomes real
hoarfrost quietly settles.

5 comments:

  1. Love this.. the sense of the silent winter woods make me think of Robert Frost. The sense of the woods is wonderful

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  2. I love how you takes us from the morning through to the evening. The quiet stillness is palpable in your wintery scene...so beautifully depicted in your choka. Thank you for adding your voice to the prompt.
    Gayle ~

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  3. A beautiful ode to the deep silence and beauty of winter ~ This is very much my backyard scene ~

    THank you Rod for sharing this winter poem ~

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  4. vivid poem. i really like it.

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  5. hoarfrost blankets skeleton tree branches......
    do you suppose it is like a comforter?
    Vivid description here.

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