Sun God

“Sun God” is the final poem in my new book, Shadow and Memory. It is a tanka, a Japanese poetic form of five lines. Similar to its three line cousin, haiku, each line has a set number of syllables.

Before presenting this poem, I thought I’d say a few words about my approach to writing haiku and tanka. It is possible to write haiku or tanka simply by breaking each line at the correct number of syllables and ensuring your whole poem fits in the overall syllable count. While there is a level of challenge in this, I have an additional rule that makes writing haiku and tanka more difficult: I want my line breaks to be meaningful so that each line carries an intact part of the overall thought. For instance, “of frost-forged grass spears” carries the whole image of grass stiffened into spears by frost. If the line was “legions of frost-forged,” the image would be incomplete, the idea fragmentary. A question I often consider when writing haiku or tanka is, “Would I break the line in this same place if I weren’t trying to fit it in a certain syllable count?” If the answer is “No,” I’ll often rework the line until it fits the syllables and stands on its own as a line.

To be sure, this is a matter of poetic philosophy. Some might say I’m over-thinking this, and I’m sure other approaches are as effective. This all has to be balanced with other elements in poetry like word choice, striking imagery, etc. I’m not above breaking my rule if a certain word is essential and is more important than the identity of the line. Writing always involves trade-offs. But as is the case with any formal poem, sticking to the rules often yields surprising creativity that is more satisfying because of the limitations of the form. That’s why I like my extra rule. But to each his own 😊

Without further ado, here is “Sun God.” As with any poem, I hope the imagery evokes what I intend. If you care to share what the imagery of this poem conveys to you, feel free to comment below!

Sun God

Laying down its light,
the sun is pierced by legions
of frost-forged grass spears
and spatters them with starlight’s
glittering constellations.