Our five word poems blog fivewordpoems.tumblr.com is galumphing forth at the speed of nonsense. I just happened upon this beautiful ancient Chinese poem whilst googlying the subject, by Tang dynasty poet Hanshan:
My five word poems total hundreds
Seven word seventy-nine
Three word twenty-one
Altogether maybe 600 poems
All written on ancient rocks
Boasting, my brushwork is strong
Who understands my poems
Is the mother of Buddha.
I found it on the poet's wikipedia page, "translated by Wandering Poet." The name "Hanshan" means "cold mountain," so I assume it should have a soundtrack by T-Bone Burnett. Both F. Keith Wahle & I have written hundreds each of five word poems, so we have fulfilled the first line of Hanshan, but now there is a new challenge to write 79 seven-word poems and 21 three-word poems. Our Five Word Poems Tumblr is now accepting submissions.
Today I came home to Cold Mountain
To be a hermit and forget the affairs of the world.
-Hanshan
Mmmbop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, ba duba dop
Ba du
Yeah
-Hanson
Posts
