Wednesday Medley

As always, Terri poses some interesting questions.

NATIONAL HAIKU POETRY DAY

Observed annually on April 17, National Haiku Poetry Day encourages all to try their hand in creativity.  Haiku poetry is a form of Japanese poetry that is non-rhyming and normally consists of 3 lines with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5.  Haiku poems are usually inspired by an element of nature, a season, a moment of beauty or an individual experience or event. Sensory language is used to capture a feeling or image.

From Haiku: This Other World
Richard Wright (1908-1960)

Whitecaps on the bay:
A broken signboard banging
In the April wind.

English haiku does not always follow the strict syllable count found in Japanese haiku. The typical length of haiku found in English language journals is 10-14 syllables, versus the 5-7-5 syllables used in the Japanese language.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Celebrate National Haiku Poetry Day by creating a haiku poem of your own!  Post your Haiku poem on social media using #NationalHaikuPoetryDay.

Educators, visit the National Day Calendar® Classroom for a project linked to National Haiku Day. 

HISTORY

National Haiku Poetry Day was registered by Sari Grandstaff in 2007 and implemented as a project of The Haiku Foundation in 2012.

http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/national-haiku-poetry-day/

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Everything above this line comes from the (USA) NationalDayCalendar.com

1.  Haiku poetry is actually pretty easy to write.  Give it a try right here...

Yellow petals fall

Robins on the lawn sing out

Joy  -- for spring is here.

 

2.  Haiku poetry aside, have you ever written a poem?  Will you share it with us?

I used to write poetry in high school.  Sadly, none of it has survived.

 

3.  Do you have a favorite poet or does poetry usually make you yawn?

If you read my answers to last week's questions, you aready know I like poetry. 

 

Today I'll give you another of my favorites:

 

Fog

By Carl Sandburg 

                                            

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

 

4.  April 17  is National Ellis Island Family History Day, too,  Did any of your ancestors or relatives immigrate through Ellis Island from another country? 

All four of my grandparents were immigrants.  Three of my grandparents died before I was born, so I don't really know their immigration stories.  But my maternal grandmother, who passed away in 1996 -- it was her voice I heard in my head when I visited the museum on Ellis Island. 

My grandmother was born in 1902 in a small town in what is now part of Poland.  She and her sister caome to the United States in the early 1920's.  Their father was already here, so they traveled with an aunt and uncle.  They sailed out of Rotterdam.

My grandmother was extremely seasick during the voyage --- she blamed the sardines that a sailor had given her -- and was held in the Ellis Island hospital for a week before they'd let her enter NYC.

 

5.  We also celebrate National Cheeseball Day on April 17th.  Do you have a favorite cheeseball recipe to share with us or have cheeseballs basically disappeared from parties today?

 

What is this thing you call a "cheeseball"?

 

Seriously, I love cheese, but I'm really not into cheeseballs.

6.  If you want to share, please tell us something random about your week.

 

I work in lower Manhattan.  My office is located in a building that has a beautiful atrium on the first floor -- lots of foiliage, including palm trees, and plenty of room to sit and pass the time.  Usually the atrium is open to the public, but the other night it was rented out to a charity for a (very expesnive) fundraising dinner.  The atrium was closed all day as the caterer set up for the dinner.

My coworkers found out that Martha Stewart sits on the board of the charity, and were hoping to get a glimpse of her as she arrived for the event. But alas, if she was here, it was well after the office workers all went home.