Haiku

Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry in a 5-7-5 syllable format in which it adds up to 17 syllables altogether.

Examples are as such:

Japanese Example:

Old Pond
by Matsuo Bashō
古池や蛙飛込む水の音
ふるいけやかわずとびこむみずのおと
Pronounced as:
fu-ru-i-ke ya (5)
ka-wa-zu to-bi-ko-mu (7)
mi-zu no o-to (5)

English Example:

Whitecaps on the bay: (5)
A broken signboard banging (7)
In the April Wind (5)

by Richard Wright
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My Creation:

Wind

The wind in the fields, (5)
It caresses our faces. (7)
How cooling it is. (5)

- Heng Wei Shin

Poem: First Day At School by Roger McGough and Introduction of Poet

Here is a poem that describes a student's first day at school and his naivety and ignorance towards school...

First Day At School

by Roger McGough

A millionbillionwillion miles from home

Waiting for the bell to go. (To go where?) Why are they all so big, other children? So noisy? So much at home they Must have been born in uniform Lived all their lives in playgrounds Spent the years inventing games That don't let me in. Games That are rough, that swallow you up. And the railings. All around, the railings. Are they to keep out wolves and monsters? Things that carry off and eat children? Things you don't take sweets from? Perhaps they're to stop us getting out Running away from the lessins. Lessin. What does a lessin look like? Sounds small and slimy. They keep them in the glassrooms. Whole rooms made out of glass. Imagine. I wish I could remember my name Mummy said it would come in useful. Like wellies. When there's puddles. Yellowwellies. I wish she was here. I think my name is sewn on somewhere Perhaps the teacher will read it for me. Tea-cher. The one who makes the tea. Taken From:  http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/first-day-at-school/ *************************************************************** Analysis of poem: The spelling errors in the poem and his misinterpretations of the words show his innocent mind and his limited vocabulary, giving readers an impression that this was written by a young child who has yet to have any school. 'to keep out wolves and monsters', 'things that carry off and eat children' shows that his mind has been exposed to fairy tales, which shows that he is really young. We can also see his ignorance towards school. *************************************************************** Introduction to Roger McGough Born on the 9 November 1937, Roger McGough was not interested in poems when he was schooling.  He only studied them because it was part of the curriculum.  However, he had a Physics teacher who recited poetry during Physics class.  He started enjoying poetry.  When he became a teacher in Liverpool, he himself recited the poems to his students.  He realised that he was interested in poetry because his pupils enjoyed them very much.  That carved out his career as a poet and he tried out the poems he had written in class.  Now, he has written over 50 poetry books for both adults and children.  He has also written fiction books for children, some of which introduce the children to poetry. His awards include:        ~Signal Poetry Award (1984 & 1999)        ~BAFTA(British Academy of Film and Television Arts) (1985)        ~Cholmondeley Award (1999)        and many more... His award-winning productions include:        ~Sky in the Pie        ~Kurt, Mungo, BP and Me        ~Bad, Bad Cats

Poem: Get Out of Bed! by Diane Z. Shore

Here is an interesting poem that describes a mother waking his son up for school and his excuses for not attending school.  Read on to find out more, to see the twist in the story...

Get Out of Bed!

by Diane Z. Shore

"Get out of bed, you silly fool!

Get up right now, it's time for school.

If you don't dress without a fuss,

I'll throw you naked on the bus!"

"Oh, Mom, don't make me go today.

I'm feeling worse than yesterday.

You don't know what I'm going through.

I've got a strange, rare case of flu."

"My body aches, my throat is sore.

I'm sure I'm knocking on death's door.

You can't send me to school-achoo!-

'Cause everyone could get it, too."

"Besides, the kids despise me there.

They always tease and always stare.

And all the teachers know my name.

When something's wrong, it's me they blame."

"You faked a headache yesterday.

Don't pull that stuff on me today.

Stop acting like a silly fool-

The principal cannot skip school!"

Taken From:
http://www.poetryteachers.com/schoolpoems/getout.html

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Analysis of poem:

• The poem above is in the form of a conversation between mother and son.
• Written in a principal's point of view, while at the same time making it sound as if from the point of view of a student, the poet successfully gives us another look into the life of a principal, unlike the way other poets portray principals as strict, authoritative and fierce people.
• The sentences makes use of rhymes at the end of sentences, and also creates a rhythm in which the poem is read.
• From the poem, we can also see that the personalities of the principal, lazy and irresponsible.

Poem: The School Day Begins by Douglas Evans

Below is a poem about a typical day in which one goes to school and school begins.


The School Day Begins
by Douglas Evans


It's Monday morning at 7:01.
You’re still half asleep; your homework’s half done.
Your shower is cold; your oatmeal’s dry.
Your mother forgets to kiss you good-bye.
You’re walking to school; it’s thirty degrees.
Your fingers won’t work; your toes and ears freeze.
Your zipper is stuck; your left sneaker squeaks.
Your backpack strap snaps; your soup thermos leaks.
You slip on school steps; you trip in the hall.
The toilet floods in the bathroom stall.
The gym door is locked; library’s the same.
The principal greets you by the wrong name.
Your classroom is hot; the coat rack is packed.
Your bean sprout is dead; your clay pot is cracked.
Your pencils are dull; the sharpener jams.
Your fingers get crunched when your desktop slams.
Your math partner’s gone; your neighbor is rude.
Your teacher’s again in a crabby mood.
The morning bell rings; it is 8:01.
Come cozy up to the whiteboard,
Another school day’s begun.


Taken From:  http://www.wtmelon.com/a12Poems.html
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Analysis of poem:

• The poem is a description of how a student usually starts his day and goes to school, in which describes what usually happens at school.
• Making use of repetition, most of the sentences start with 'your', showing that this poem's target audience are students who are currently schooling.
• The poem describes the many challenges and experiences that students face at the start of school, whether physically or psychologically.
• The end of the sentences rhyme and this also helps to create a rhythm in which this poem can be read.

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My Creation:

What an Unlucky Day!

You wake up at half-past eight,

You realise that its already late!

Washing up in the bathroom,

You know that you're going to be doomed.

You rush down the stairs into the dining room,

And by accident, trip over the broom.

You pick yourself up and see the pup,

You remember to feed the pup.

You put its food into your cup,

Don't know why but you supped it up.

You spit it out,

Onto its snout.

You had no choice but to clean it up,

You looked up at the calendar hung up,

You realise that its a Sunday,

You say,

"What an unlucky day!"

 - Heng Wei Shin

Poetry from young...

Poetry, you might think, has only been exposed to us after we have learnt to read and write.

However, you are wrong. Many of us would have been exposed to nursery rhymes during our toddler years. A famous collection would be the 'Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes', in which many short poems entertain children even up till today, such as 'Humpty Dumpty' and 'Rock-a-bye Baby', which may even been exposed to us since birth!

However, many do not know the story and the origins behind these poems...

Did you know, that 'Humpty Dumpty' was believed to be the name of a cannon which was used during the English Civil War(1642~1649)? It all happened in the town of Colchester, which was protected by the town's wall. Next to the wall was a church by the name of St. Mary's. The cannon(Humpty Dumpty) was placed on the wall next to St Mary's Church - 'Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall'. The wall was subsequently destroyed and 'Humpty Dumpty had a great fall'. 'All the king's horses and all the king's men' attempted to put the cannon on another part of the wall, but 'couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again'!

'Rock-a-bye Baby' was used to described the scene of the Indians who rocked their babies in wooden cradles which were suspended on trees. However, some of these cradles would fall when the wind comes. This poem is thought to be the first poem written on American soil.

Recommended Book(s) on Poetry...

I will be constantly updating this post as and when I come across any poetry books, so stay tuned!

Firstly, let me start with this book, Towerhill reclaimed. This is a Hwa Chong Institution production which consists of a collection of poems by its students. Below is a picture of the book cover:

                                  Towerhill reclaimed

Introduction

Hi everybody,
Welcome to this blog. I will be using this blog to showcase some poems by others as well as mine, along with an analysis of the poem. Please, feel free to give me some comments on how I might be able to improve my blog. Thank You!