The Exchange is the Weekly’s poetry corner, where a poem or piece of writing is presented with a prompt. Readers are welcome to respond to the prompt with original poems, and pieces may be featured in the next issue of the Weekly.
The Flower Knows A Lot About Vines
by Chima “Naira” Ikoro
I have noticed, in order
to grow, I must be
watered. But, y’all…I can’t swim.
For Shame
by Chima “Naira” Ikoro
My voice feels so meaningless
when I call the waiter
and they don’t hear me. Yikes.
Chima Ikoro is the Weekly’s Community Builder.
Prompt
“Write a few honest haikus.”
Submissions could be new or formerly written pieces. Haikus can be written in traditional format or freeform.
Submissions can be sent to bit.ly/ssw-exchange or via email to chima.ikoro@southsideweekly.com.
Featured below is a reader response to a previous prompt. The last poem and prompt can be found here.
From The Womb to the Tomb There Lies A Good Name
by Kenneth Gregory Simmons, Jr.
The journey from the womb to the tomb is as real…
Than surreal.
It is a journey that travels beyond your control.
But even in the midst of your soul lies a little troll…
A Good Name.
A name which is more valuable than birth…
A name which is more valuable than the earth…
A name which is more valuable than death…
And a name which is more valuable than wealth and health…
For none of us asked to be born but we’re here!
And since you’re here what are you doing for a world that’s so severe?
When it comes down to someone’s problems are you a solution?
Or are you a pollution?
Are you here as a gift to create stars?
Or are you here to sift by afflicting scars?
If so then the world that was once obsolete will never be the same!!!
But complete thanks to a good name…
A name in which there is nothing great to give or to gain…
Only a living that will not be in vain…
And in the end how long you lived your life would not matter…
Only how well you’ve lived it to the latter…
Because from the womb to the tomb there lies a good name!!!
“Haikus can be written in traditional format or freeform. ”
There is no such thing as a “freeform” haiku, just as there is no such thing as a “freeform” sonnet, a “freeform” ghazal, or any other sort of poem which has a strict definition.
Haiku have 17 syllables, a seasonal reference, and a “cutting word” creating a pause . Haiku in English generally use a three line form, with 5-7-5 syllabification.
You can’t just throw words together any which way and call the result a haiku.