Issa and his dewdrops.

I could credit the image source but I'm not going to.  This is me YOLO-ing. Did I say that right?

I've always dug Kobayashi Issa's dewdrop poems.  A lot of them are about children of his that died which is sad but also kind of motivating.  Reading his poetry it seems like a miracle that anybody ever survives past the age of 2.  His dewdrops tell us to eat pizza today, because there may not be any tomorrow.

Here's one of my personal favorites:

露の世や露のなでしこ小なでしこ
a dewdrop world--
dewy pinks
big and little

Here's a link where you can read more:
This is the link I just mentioned.
The editors supply background info where they can.

Oh yeah, you may notice that there isn't much 5-7-5 going on.  That whole structure is bullshit.  The Japanese don't even count syllables the same way we do.  I don't know who came up with that "rule," but whoever it was was a boner.  Probably a loner too.  A loner boner.

New Yorker article on Ariel

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/02/ariel-and-sylvia-plaths-joy.html

Weekly Prompt 2/24

Ode 
(prompt from Poets & Writers)

Chilean poet Pablo Neruda is famous for his wonderful odes to unexpected subjects. "Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market” and “Ode to an Artichoke” celebrate items we might not typically expect to hear lauded. This week, write an ode to a household object. Try to come up with as many epithets and images for the item as you can.

Check out the link below for Neruda's "Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market":

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/179412