Moved that way, or: Swayed there

A Sijo

Carlebach1 melodies rose;
eyes closed, I swayed there in prayer;
later, my best friend remarked,
"I'd never seen you moved that way;"
older now, I question that night
yet still recall that solace

Footnote

Carlebach melodies are widely used Jewish prayer tunes composed by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and are often associated with emotionally expressive and participatory worship. ↩︎

Reena’s Xploration Challenge 435

For Reena’s RXC prompt, she invites us to compose poems inspired by the word:

‘NUMINOUS’

numinous (adjective)

nu·mi·nous /ˈnuːmɪnəs/

Definition:

Arousing a sense of the presence of something greater than oneself, especially something mysterious, sacred, transcendent, or spiritual.

Characterized by awe, wonder, reverence, or a feeling of contact with a reality beyond ordinary experience.

Example:
The music created a numinous atmosphere that left listeners feeling both comforted and unsettled.

Etymology:
From Latin numen (“divine presence,” “divine will”) + -ous.

Synonyms:
transcendent, mystical, spiritual, awe-inspiring, sacred, otherworldly.

Usage Note:
Numinous describes the experience or feeling of encountering something perceived as greater than oneself; it does not, by itself, imply that the source of that feeling is objectively supernatural.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Longing #Memories #Numinous #Poem #Poetry #Prayer #Reflection #Sijo #Skepticism #Surreal #Transcendence

Private sky, or: After ultra

A Sijo

thoughts still circle the ceiling long after I've closed my eyes; violet sparks dissolve to grey across a private inner sky; at last, the welcome blackness swallows up what daylight could not

d’Verse poetics: Get out your crayons

At d’Verse, we are encouraged to compose color-themed poems.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Black #Colors #Poem #Poetry #Release #Relief #Sijo #Sleep #Stress #Violet

Admired & anchored, or: Pirkei Avot 3:17

A Sijo

why do we compare people to trees? the boychik asks his rebbe; wisdom stretches to the heavens lush leaves admired by all; yet winds reveal a second truth: good deeds anchor upward growth

Tanka Tuesday: All about trees

For Tanka Tuesday, we are invited to write a tree-themed syllabic poem.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Endurance #Growth #JewishWisdom #Learning #PirkeiAvot #Poem #Poetry #Roots #Sijo #Trees #Wisdom

Sketches, poems, scraps, or: Dreams

A Sijo

promotions earned through patient years framed certificates remain; deep within a desk drawer rest sketches, poems, scraps of dreams; looking outward, wondering if those journeys continue within

What Do You See 345

For WDYS, Sadje offers us a photo by Rita Daisy (Unsplash) of a solitary man standing before a floor-to-ceiling window, gazing out at a bright city skyline from the dim interior of a high-rise room.

As always, Sadje is eagerly awaiting our responses!

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Achievement #Aspiration #Choices #Creativity #Identity #Memory #Poem #Poetry #Possibility #Reflection #Sijo

Seasons of my home, or: Sunlit

A Sijo

newly back in Jerusalem autumn gathered over stone; sunlit droplets veiled the city my delicious walk in the rain; at last, my Jewish liturgy fit the seasons of my home

W3 poetry prompt

For this week’s W3, Artie encourages us to let ourselves drift from Mary Oliver’s poem Drifting. We may use either of the prompt lines, “my delicious walk in the rain” or “what it is that music is trying to say”, directly or indirectly as inspiration.

The goal is not to imitate Oliver’s poem but to follow our own memory, wonder, weather, music, or other experience wherever it leads, especially when it seems to communicate something beyond ordinary language.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Israel #Judaism #Poem #Poetry #Prayer #Rain #Roots #Seasons #Sijo #W3 #Weather

For traces, or: Machine code

A Sijo

detector flags my latest verse
with alarming confidence;
surprised, I audit memories
for traces of machine code;
my mother calls me back to say
that's not how it happened, dear

Reena’s Xploration Challenge 434

For Reena’s RXC prompt, she invites us to compose poems inspired by an AI-generated image similar to the one above. The banner shows a split-screen design that contrasts a mock CAPTCHA asking users to identify poetry-related images with a dramatic AI detector declaring a poem “96% AI-generated.”

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#AI #Algorithm #Dystopia #Humanity #Humor #Memories #Poem #Poetry #Sijo #Skepticism #Surreal

Intellectual or Public introspectual

A Sijo

intellectuals weather storms I chart the weather within each draft reveals another room more than stale air ever could should one curtain stir afar then these currents travel well

d’Verse poetics: Unpunctuated

At d’Verse, we are encouraged to compose poems without any punctuation.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Conceit #Discovery #Introspection #Metaphor #Poem #Poetry #Punctuation #Reflection #Sijo #Thoughts #Weather

Every road imagined, or: Here

A Sijo

midsummer in this city restaurants, museums, cafés; riverfront memorials glow at the feet of old stone bridges; I come here when I need a break from every road imagined

Tanka Tuesday: It’s vacation time!

For Tanka Tuesday, we are invited to write a vacation-themed syllabic poem.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Cities #Escape #Imagination #Poem #Poetry #Recursion #Refuge #Release #Relief #Sijo #Vacation

A pity, or: A small committee

A Sijo

she saw no difference at all
between paneled floors and fields;
a small committee soon agreed
her venture could not fail;
since that slippery aftermath
she's turned her sights to the skies

What Do You See 344

For WDYS, Sadje offers us a photo by Vitalii Khodzinskyi (Unsplash) of a young girl standing outdoors blowing soap bubbles through a bubble wand. She is wearing a light-colored sweatshirt with a bear design.

As always, Sadje is eagerly awaiting our responses!

d’Verse Open Link Night

I’m sharing this sijo for OLN at d’Verse.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Bubbles #Childhood #Experience #Learning #Memories #Mischief #Mistakes #Playful #Poem #Poetry #Sijo

Inside the margins, or: My days

A Sijo

the week's demands keep gathering inside the margins of my days; every opening closes fast beneath another small request; yet unwritten lines linger as I drift more off-kilter

Reena’s Xploration Challenge 433

For Reena’s RXC prompt, she invites us to compose poems inspired by this image of three miniature figures dressed like medieval scribes kneeling on a large sheet of paper, writing with quill pens while a faint clock face and calendar are superimposed beneath them. A laptop sits in the corner of the desk, creating a surreal image that suggests the labor of writing, planning, and managing time.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Balance #Creativity #Discipline #Distraction #Obligation #Persistence #Poem #Poetry #Pressure #Sijo #Time