 Poetry: June 13, 2007 Issue [#1770] |
  Poetry
This week: Edited by: Red Writing Hood <3  
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Poetry should please by a fine excess and not by singularity. It should strike the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear almost as a remembrance.
John Keats (1795 - 1821)
Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting with the gift of speech.
Simonides (556 BC - 468 BC)
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The Lune: The English Language Haiku
My interest in the Lune is due to my interest in the Japanese Haiku. I adore trying to come up with eye- and brain-catching images in a few words.
SAY WHAT?
The “u” is pronounced like the o’s in the word boo; or pronounced loon, like the aquatic bird.
BRIEF HISTORY
There are two variations of the Lune, so there are two brief histories.
Robert Kelly Lune:
Robert Kelly, a Professor of Literature at Bard College since 1986 and resident of Red Hook (New York), invented the Lune poetry form. There are more syllables in Japanese words than there are in English words. Writing Haiku (5-7-5 syllables) in English creates a different poem than the Japanese intention. Robert Kelly invented the Lune to remove these differences, and so makes the Lune (5-3-5 syllables) closer to Haiku than Haiku written in the English language.
Jack Collom Lune:
According to The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms (edited by Ron Padgett), Jack Collom created his version by accident. It also mentions that as he was, “beginning to work with schoolchildren he misremembered Kelly’s idea as a count of 3/5/3 words, rather than syllables.” In doing so, he created a new variation of the Lune. As a happy coincidence, this variation made it easier for kids to create Lunes, since words are easier to count than syllables.
MUST HAVES
Robert Kelly Lune:
-Three lines containing a word count of 5-3-5.
-A complete thought within those three lines (thirteen syllables).
Jack Collom Lune:
-Three lines containing a word count of 3-5-3.
-A complete thought within those three lines (eleven words).
COULD HAVES or WHAT IS THE POET’S CHOICE IN ALL THIS?
Everything else!
The Lune doesn’t have the same restraints as Haiku. You may refer to the seasons or not. You may use metaphor, simile, etc. (Which is frowned upon in Haiku – but I personally use them in mine because I like them. Hearing that, Basho (a famous Haiku poet of the 1600’s) rolled over in his grave in annoyance.) You may rhyme or not. (Also a no-no in Haiku.)
This is a form with great latitude, and has become my new favorite form. It has everything I like, and doesn’t make me feel guilty for adding my metaphors. Now, if they could only invent a calorie-free banana split - I’d be in heaven.
When creating Lune chains, I would make sure each individual Lune has a complete thought – just as Haiku chains do. Since the form has few restrictions, I'd stay as true to them as I could.
OF NOTE:
Interviews with Robert Kelly that I found particularly interesting, but they don’t talk about the Lune form:
http://www.readysteadybook.com/Article.aspx?page=robertkelly
http://www.modern-review.com/archives/v_i/subjectmatter_kelly.html
A list of Robert Kelly’s work, awards, and more:
http://home.earthlink.net/~robert.kelly/robertkelly/id1.html
Brief bio on Jack Collom:
http://www.naropa.edu/swp/faculty/j_collom.cfm
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Theme: I couldn't find a Lune in its pure form on site, but I did find some Lune chains and some poems using the Lune as a stanza form.
And I tried my hand at the form, as well 
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Comments on last month's newsletter:
Submitted By: scribbler 
Submitted Comment:
Isn't that just like stream of conscience poetry?
Ah, you’ve got me. Thank you for pointing out the exception.
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