senryu

standing in the street
a stunning woman watches 
contemplates traffic

     A senryu is a special kind of haiku.  Instead of dealing with nature and natural subjects, the senryu deals with human conditions and human subjects.  It still is written in the traditional 5-7-5 syllable, three line verse, or 17 syllables all together. Like haiku, the senryu is written in present tense.
    I had fun with word play in writing this poem.

Can you try writing a senryu today?  I give you permission to people watch in order to write your poem, just try to be polite and discrete.

How can one be sad on a sunny day?  I'm grateful for sunshine.

It Rained

On my way home
from my cancelled
swim meet,
hundreds of lizards
were in the street.

They came out
in a blink
to the road
to get a drink.


     Living in the desert, it is always interesting to see what the monsoon rains bring.  Last evening there were hordes of lizards and birds gathering on the pavement.  I remember as a child that this kind of weather would drive thousands of crickets into the streets.  The crickets would gather in the light in front of stores.  The store owners would put out sulphur to kill the crickets.   It smelled like rotten eggs.  You could hear the crunching sound of crickets being crushed by cars in the street.
    Have you had any rain lately?  What changes do you notice?  Can you write a poem about the changes rain brings?  Have fun writing.

LEMONADE

I'm building a lemonade stand
To sell my drinks by the street.
"25 cents a glass," I'll say
To all the people I meet,
And for
a dollar,
I'll add sugar 
to make it  sweet.



  

   Have you ever had a lemonade stand?  What did you do with the money?  Can you write a poem about that today?