Asian Poem-Grass by Bai Juyi (Karl Lim)

Part part plain on grass                      The grass is spreading out across the plain,
One year one wither flourish              Each year, it dies, then flourishes again.
Prairie fire burn not destroy               It's burnt but not destroyed by prairie fires,
Spring wind blow again life               When spring winds blow they bring it back to life.
Distant fragrance invade old path     Afar, its scent invades the ancient road,
Clear emerald meet ruined town      Its emerald green overruns the ruined town.
Again see off noble friend go            Again I see my noble friend depart,
Crowded full parting feeling              I find I'm crowded full of parting's feelings.

The main theme about this poem is "Parting". It basically says that when you part with somebody, they will come back. The structure is very simple. There are only five characters on every line, but every line actually says a lot. The poem uses many different objects as a metaphor for his friend.

source : http://www.chinese-poems.com/bo4t.html

No Loss, No Gain by Rajaram Ramachandran (Kenny Ramos)

"No Loss No Gain"

The candle melts itself,
And the wick burns itself,
Just to give us away its light.

The incense stick ashes itself,
And turns to smoke itself,
Just to give us its aroma.

The sandalwood grinds itself,
And a paste, it becomes itself,
Just to give us away its scent.

The rose crushes itself,
And in water sinks itself,
Just to give us its flavor-drink.

The sugar cane crushes itself,
And becomes crystal itself,
Just to sweeten our food.

The field takes the seeds itself,
And turns them into plants itself,
Just to give us rich corn.

The tree labors itself,
And grows tall itself,
Just to give us its juicy fruits.

The cocoon spins itself,
And then unwinds itself,
Just to give us its silk.

The milk curdles itself,
And again churns itself,
Just to give us its butter.

The mother suffers pain herself,
But still smiles herself,
Just to feed the baby with her milk.

The camphor fumes itself,
And turns black smoke itself,
Just to illuminate the Lord.

One can gain something,
Only by losing something,
That's the law of nature.

Yes, the sacrifice's the mother,
Of what, in our life, we gather,
As the fruit of our labor.

So, grieve not over your loss,
A stepping stone to your success,
If you want to remain happy always.

-Rajaram Ramachandran

India

(Source: http://naishinnoumouko.tripod.com/id1.html)

The poem is simple. It is basically a poem form of the saying "No pain, no gain." The structure is simple: it is in a three-line stanza. It doesn't follow a rhyme (since it only rhymed up to the twelfth stanza, and even then only the first two lines rhyme per stanza) or a meter. What is notable is that in all the examples he used, he kept repeating the last word of the first two lines (ie itself and herself). It is to say that the work done by the object/plant/person is basically done by just itself, with no help.

Asian Poem - Basho's Old Pond (John Cocabo)

Basho's Old Pond

古池や蛙飛込む水の音

ふるいけやかわずとびこむみずのおと

furuike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto (transliterated into romaji)

This separates into on as:

fu-ru-i-ke ya (5)

ka-wa-zu to-bi-ko-mu (7)

mi-zu no o-to (5)

Translated:

old pond . . .

a frog leaps in

water’s sound

This poem was written in traditional Japanese Haiku form and has the imagery of natural pond life. What is being depicted in the poem, much like its structure is very simple, and ordinary- almost plain. However, the words are sufficient enough to complete a thought (about the cause and effect phenomenon in nature) just like how its structure is just right for going with the 5-7-5 traditional Haiku structure (no more no less in terms of syllables.)  Yet there is an irony that although the poem depicts nature or something that happens naturally, the structural organization of the Haiku as a form of poetry shows some sort of unnatural or forced because the syllables had to fit in the 5-7-5 organization.

Due to the Haiku being a traditional form of writing poems for the Japanese, most of the imagery are about natural entities like love, the seasons and life. Haikus didn't have to rhyme, but the biggest challenge was to paint a clear image in the reader's imagination in 17 syllables- no more no less. 

Source:

http://volweb.utk.edu/school/bedford/harrisms/haiku.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku#cite_note-18

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-old-pond/

Hope (Karl Lim)

Hope

Melvin T

Hope is a candle in the night
hope is a long respite

Hope is a feather
Once lifted, it'll only get higher

Hope is an oasis in a desert
Hope is a diamond in the dirt

Hope is everywhere
Yet hope is scarcely there

Hope is the dream of better days
Hope is the passion ablaze

Hope is beautiful
And hope is tranquil

Hope is there for everyone
Hope is an asset that all has in abundance

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/hope-268/

Politicians

Politicians

On a very bright sunny day

Mr. Pig ate eggs and bacon.

He was very lively and gay;

He was listening to Akon.

Pop crackle snap grumble grumble.

'Twas a sunny day, like we said.

Then his stomach started to rumble-

"Just doing my job," Mr. Pig said.

Mr. Pig then dressed to go out-

To talk to pigs who will see him.

He woos them with his mouth

So for breakfast he can eat them.

Porkers. N.d. Image. The BlazeWeb. 16 Dec 2012. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/congress-has-still-found-ways-to-pass-earmarks-despite-ban-heres-how-and-a-list/>.

A New Start (Kenny Ramos)

A New Start.

Bernard Shaw

I have wiped the slate clean,
No more reminders from the past.
Memories of what I have been,
Have vanished at long last.
I look forward to my future new,
Where all is territory strange.
Soon I will be among the few,
That plans their life at long range.
I see my life laid out at my feet,
New friends shall rally at my call.
They will be the first I will greet,
At this my welcoming ball.
Soon all memories will depart,
Of a past left well behind.
I will get off to a new start,
With the best of mankind. 

Taken from:

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-new-start/

Sonnagrams- Funny ones (Kenny Ramos)

I was reading about K. Silem Mohammed's Sonnagrams book, and I have to say, what I've found is hilarious.

(Whatcha talkin bout Willis)

... you may ask. Well, what Silem does is make anagrams of Shakespeare's sonnets. The anagram he does has to use all the letters, with whatever extra letters becoming letters for the title. According to reviews, the result is another sonnet. It's very.... modern, all that. No fancy words to look up, just plain old basic words. Here's an example of his I got from another blog:

The the the the the the the the the the Death (Hey Hey)

Hell yeah, this is an English sonnet, bitch:

Three quatrains and a couplet, motherfucker.

I write that yummy shit to get me rich:

My iambs got more drive than Preston Tucker.

I also got that English rhyme shit straight,

That alternating shit the verses do.

Word: every foxy mama that I date

Feels how my goddam prosody is true.

And I don’t mess with no Italian shit;

I only blow your mind the one way, ho.

I line it up four-four-four-two, that’s it:

That’s how I do my sonnet bidness, yo.

My mad Shakespearean moves are “phat,” or “def”:

They weave my pet eel Lenny—what the eff?

Well, my example has a lot of swear words, but as you can see it's... well, funny and a work of metafiction (since it does discuss how a sonnet works. You know. In a bragging way. Bragging swearing way. Kinda like how people brag online.)

Anyway. The last line? Basically that's how his OTHER works go, hence the "what the eff?" (although, let's be honest, that's exactly how we react to any sonnet.) I haven't read his work, but I'm definitely going to look for it.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Metafiction

Works Cited

Kakepare, Ukarau, dir. Whatcha talkin bout Willis. 2007. Web. 16 Dec 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw9oX-kZ_9k>.

Case, Sarah. "Songs and Sonnets." Songs and sonnets: A review of Peter Gizzi's 'Threshold Songs' and K. Silem Mohammad's 'Sonnagrams 1–20'. Jacket2, 9 2012. Web. 16 Dec 2012. 

Siamond, Sarah. "The Year in Review: Shouldn't the Sonnet? [by Sandra Simonds, August 15, 2012]."The Best American Poetry. The Best American Poetry, 2 2012. Web. 16 Dec 2012. <http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2012/12/the-year-in-review-shouldnt-the-sonnet-by-sandra-simonds-august-15-2012.html>.