5/7/5
bout of commotion
curiosity enchant
koi in shallow stream
*
grabbed my attention
rose, flitted to scrutinize
koi in shallow stream
|
3/5/3
commotion
perks me up at once
koi struggles
*
one false note
I scoot to explore
fat one's stuck
|
2/3/2
fat koi
punctuates
spring song
*
a sigh
dart to probe
fat koi
***
© selma
Senryu are untitled. They’re written in the present tense — about love, human foibles,
or personal event; they should be blunt (never sentimental) and have irony or humor.
“Senryu in English focuses on the awkward moments in life making
the human, not the world around them, the subject.”
~ Colleen Chesebro, Prose Metrist, Novelist, & Word Witch
I, the human who sat by a gently susurrating stream to read, rose and flitted close to
investigate the commotion. What I saw was charming– a happy carp got stuck on a rise
that made the water flow shallow in one spot. The others in the school rounded the
rise and followed the water smooth as ever, but this chubby one disregarded the others
and thus got himself stuck. Haha. He was probably busy on his phone. The joke’s on
him, but his foible gifted this human a pleasant moment in nature.
Short Bio:
Selma Martin is a retired English teacher with 20 years of teaching children ESL. She believes in people’s
goodness and in finding balance in simple living. She lives in Japan with her husband of thirty-four years.
In 2018, Selma participated in a networking course whose final lesson was to publish a story on Amazon.
After many failed attempts, she completed the course and self-published her short story, Wanted:
Husband/Handyman, in 2019. Later, collaborating with peers from that course, she published Wanted:
Husband/Handyman in an anthology, Once Upon A Story: A Short Fiction Anthology.
Selma has published stories on Medium for many years, in MasticadoresUSA, The Poetorium At Starlight, Short
Fiction Break, Lit eZine, and Spillwords.
In July 2023, Selma published a debut poetry collection on Amazon through Experiments In Fiction. In April
2024she was published in an anthology, Poetry Treasures through Word Craft Publishers, and in June 2024 in
a haiku anthology, Pearls of Haiku through Literary Revelations Press. You can find Selma on her website,
selmamartin.com, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook as selmawrites.
THANKS FOR READING
I wish you miracles.
- Haiku: Alone Together - November 20, 2024
- A Little Sun Expands the Soul - November 19, 2024
- How To Touch The Sky - November 18, 2024
Koi are fun to watch. Hope the one that was stuck got free.
Free is where imagination can lead us… what gets on a page doesn’t always have to make sense.
Just that one has the joy and fun of expression.
There are smaller short forms to play with. The ones I know are; (line/ syllable)
tau ku 1/6, 2/2, 3,8
pi ku 1,3,2/1, 3/4
It’s been fun working on these syllabic forms. I’m wowed by it all.
And there’s more? The ones you mentioned —I’m not familiar with them. More good fun! Thanks for connecting with me. I appreciate you. I wish you miracles.
The variety can be overwhelming. I enjoy short forms and free verse 😀
Write what makes you happy!
Well done, Selma. The main thing to remember about haiku is that it is always about nature. Senryu, are about the human, as you illustrate in your poems. Go back and read the portion about combining lines one and two, and then lines two and three. There should be two separate ideas that somehow combine—that’s the juxtaposition. These take practice and we all learn this stuff together. <3
Thank you so much for giving me of your time. For These I did do the lines 1&2 2&3 genius-thing I learned from you but obviously I haven’t ‘learned’ it yet; I hope to learn that to the point of it becoming a motor-skill. I’ll keep at it.
This is all so beautiful. I never knew. Thanks. Be well, Colleen. Bed time for me. Happy Spring. I wish you miracles.
Glad to help, Selma. We all learn this stuff together. <3