Sijo

Paul Brookes’ suggested poetry form last week was the sijo, a three-line poem os 14-16 syllables per line, with a shift in meaning or a twist in the third line. Because the lines are long, the poem can be written in six lines. You can read all the sijo poems on Paul’s blog here.

Autumn hunting

I wish the wind would blow away
the sounds of a hundred deaths

of gunshot echoing across meadow
woods and through thinning trees

the skies bird-flutter—
if only feather-hail was mortal as lead.

La chasse de l’automne

Que le vent emporte ce vacarme,
sourd et sournois, que la paix

revient dans ces bois, où des plumes volètent
comme des feuilles mortes,

couleur de sang et de l’argent,
mais parfois comme des pièces d’or.