#kwansaba

[balkaransidhu]

K for Kwansaba #NaPoWriMo2021

K for Kwansaba #NaPoWriMo2021

The Kwansaba is a form of praise poetry invented by Eugene B. Redmond. This form is based on the seven day holiday of Kwanzaa and the its seven principles – unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. The poetry form celebrates and praises these seven principles in African- American communities. Some of its elements of…

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[kwansaba-blog]

I miss her

She’s back! Colors are bright again Words line up in sonnets to sing And dance like a rooster at dusk. O! When can I see her again? Soon I hope. Her smile shines bright When it spreads across her guise like Cherry blossom in a Crown Heights spring

[kwansaba-blog]

Lucky

I close my eyes to seek you

As walks in the streets feel stale

I take the time to imagine you.

Your sweet smell that ordains my mind

To spaz in a rapid rabid frenzy.

Your smile disarms me with ease and

I wonder how I got so lucky. 

[victorinfante]

Daryl Lorenzo Washington gives us a tribute to Samuel Delany, and a bit about a form which I , personally, was unfamiliar.

[the-habitual-wordsmith]

Tonight

Shadows casting sonatas, the dawning dark cascades

musical nuances, drift slowly will his fingers

across her lips, desire's pulsing rhythms creates

Breaths tangled within each other; pushing slowly

with the sweet honey flowing from between

her legs, he enters where he is

welcome with open heart, body in tremble 

[hillarykobernickpoetry-blog]

Writing Prompt #19: Backwards and Forwards

The goal of this writing prompt is to think about how to stay focused on the story you're trying to communicate. When I was in a writing workshop in high school, a poet told me: "editing is mostly about removing words." This prompt challenges you to do just that.

Start with a draft a poem you already have. It should be long-ish. Say, 25 lines minimum. (If you want an extra challenge, start with a paper or chapter--it doesn't necessarily have to be your own work.) Now, take the main theme/image/idea of that poem and reduce it to a kwansaba: a 7 line poem with 7 words in each line, each word no more than 7 letters. 7 X 7 X 7. Now, reduce it to a haiku: 3 lines, 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second line, and 5 in the third line. (This is tricky because now there's no more limits on how long the word is--you can use a 5 syllable word in the first line, if you want.) You may need to narrow your theme to one image or idea. Now, reduce it to a six word story, a la Ernest Hemingway. This is a one-line poem with just six words in it. It doesn't have to be a story, but stay focused on the same theme.

Take a breath. You can stop here if you want. But, just for fun, you can also go the other direction: take your six word poem and expand it to a haiku, then a kwansaba, then a longer poem. Add details you didn't have in the poem you started with. Focus on a different part of the theme. Let the longer versions take you a different direction. You may end up with a new draft of the first poem, or eight new poems.