Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #98 Choka

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #98 Choka

Japanese long poem, or Choka

Chevrefeuille invited us to write a long Japanese poem

Spring is arriving

magnolia blooming again

winter is still here 

morning frost still on the ground

birds are not singing 

still cuddling their ice cold feet

heads under their wings

sleeping in the thick clad bush

Strange no birds singing, its cold

Winter is still here

morning frost still on the ground

mountain shining white

sun peeping over the ridge

Strange no birds singing, its cold

The choka can be of almost any length, because its form depends on alternating phrases (or lines) containing either seven of five sound units. The end of the poem is signalled by two lines of seven sounds. So the form is five/seven, five/seven, five seven, …. , seven/seven.

which is of a pattern 5-7 5-7 5-7 5-7-7.