Micropoetry

What is micropoetry?

Micropoetry is a type of poem.

Micropoetry is distinguished by its brevity. It is a mini poem, a pithy poem, a short poem.

The poems of A Cairn of Micropoetry consists of haiku, senryu, cinquain, gogyoshi, and free verse.

Haiku is a Japanese unrhymed poetic form that consists of three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. Haiku traditionally evokes images of nature. As it evolved, the traditional 5/7/5 syllable sequence has given way to a less formal poem. You may see additional or fewer syllables which is acceptable as long as imagery is intact.

Senryu is a Japanese unrhymed poetic form that consists of three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. Senryu’s poetic form is structurally like haiku but instead of addressing physical nature, it addresses human nature. Like haiku, the traditional 5/7/5 syllable sequence has given way to a less formal poem. You may see additional or fewer syllables which is acceptable if the human nature aspect of the poem is intact.

Cinquain was invented by Adelaide Crapsey, an American poet, inspired by Japanese haiku and tanka. It is a short unrhymed poem containing 2,4,6,8,2 syllables completing a 5-line poem.

Gogyoshi was originally invented by Tekkan Yosano. Then the modern Japanese poet Taro Aizu created World Gogyoshi which is considered a marriage between Japanese Gogyoshi and English Pentastich.  There are no syllable restrictions. Writing a poem in five lines with a title is its only rule. The title should be in caps. Content and themes are chosen by the poet.

Free Verse poetry doesn’t follow a specific meter or rhyme scheme. It often follows the rhythm of natural speech and can be any length and about any topic. It doesn’t have a set number of words or syllables per line. Free Verse poetry can also be called non-metrical or non-rhyming poems.