SENRYU #3: Friendship

Continuing my own experimentations with a variety of different verse forms, here is my further attempt at a SENRYU . . .

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Senryū is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku in construction: three lines with 17 morae (syllables). Senryū tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about nature, and senryū are often cynical or darkly humorous while haiku are more serious. Wikipedia

FRIENDSHIP

Rejoice in friendship
Brotherly love always wins
Over self and pride.

Give Over!

Why’s a blown kiss
your opening gambit?
It’s not sincere,
I cannot stand it.

Stop it, end it,
don’t go on.
I’ve had enough,
you’ve got me wrong.

Oh, do desist,
I cannot bear it.
You make me ill,
please do spare it.

You know full well
I’m not your slave.
Don’t treat me like that,
I am not brave.

You take advantage,
see my weakness,
test my friendship
by being facetious.

So, I implore you,
do not tease me.
Please grow up
if you wish to please me.

NOTE: Give Over
An English phrase. Means “stop it” or “Leave me alone”
If someone is complaining, making an unnecessary fuss, or bothering you – you would say “Give over”, used in a playful sense – i.e. with friends, kids or pets.
by brit1979 January 19, 2009

Time’s Reckoning

TIME’S RECKONING

As my eyes closed on yesterday,

Its half-truths and its flaws,

My thoughts then turned to triumphs past,

To nights of warm applause.

To days of plenty, youth and promise,

When all was bright and brave,

When time’s sand filled the hour glass

And life a lustre gave.

I drank the spirit of success

With eagerness and hope;

No fears of failure, dread or loss,

Marred my horoscope.

But time demands a reckoning

And optimism fades.

Life has now passed beyond its cusp,

No more the accolades.

So now I seek content in friends,

Those who remain steadfast.

To them I owe my gratitude,

They are my valued past.

… At a Distance

 

Contemplation

ON  A  FRIENDSHIP  RENEWED 

At a distance … 
You observe the early morning sun
Reflected in the ripples of the pools on your shore.

Whilst … distantly … 
I walk my river bank
And catch the sunset’s glow.

*

I am more than aware of you,
Knowing something,
But not enough,
Of your past.

I am prompted to delve,
To interfere,
To imagine when our paths first crossed.
And why life didn’t turn out differently.

I’m happy that it didn’t;
Yet I’m sad that it did.

Paths met;  paths crossed ;
Moved on. 
Wildly apart;  Seriously separate.

Only, a lifetime later, across worlds,
to conjoin in distant musings.
Intellectually;
Forensically;
Electronically.

A necessary caesura, a brief hiatus,
From pressing cares, from present bonds.

No future, no prospect,
No fulfilment or resolution.
A remote meeting of distant minds;
Sensibilities intertwined.
An informed harmony
Of art, music, poetry.

Two perceptions
Conjoined –
From a distance.

 

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I give a link below to Nanci Griffith’s 1987 version of Julie Gould’s song . . .

From A Distance

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