text
this body once lean and flat
has become hilly and fat
I am tired of stale advice
anything but fresh and nice
notes
Thursday's D'Verse Poets prompt requested couplets.
https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/22/mtb-two-by-two/
The Saturday Mix gave us the word pairings flat and hilly and stale and fresh.
https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2022/09/24/opposing-forces-saturday-mix-24-september-2022/
Now, you might be thinking to yourself "how in the world is Ornery going to make that work? There aren't any Japanese poetry forms that use couplets!"
That's what I was thinking myself, but I did a little research, and there kind of is one. It's called the Kouta.
https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/tag/japanese/
The Kouta 小唄 (little or short song) is a popular Japanese verse form of the Muromachi Period, 14th thru 16th century. The lyrical song was resurrected as a Geisha song in the late 1800s and is still popular today. The form has several variations, though always short in only 4 lines a 5th line is sometimes is added. The theme reflects ordinary life and often uses colloquialisms and onomatopoeia. The most popular are love songs. The elements of Kouta are:
a poem in 4 lines. (an occasional 5th line may appear)
a stand alone poem but often is accompanied by other Koutas with the same theme.
syllabic, variable odd numbered syllable lengths, the most common patterns are written in lines of alternating 7-5-7-5 syllables or 7-7-7-5 syllables.
secular, personal, themes of ordinary life
often includes onomatopoeia.
My brain is too tangled to think of even spelling onomatopoeia let alone trying to write a poem containing such. I also tweaked the rules a bit. Every line has seven syllables.
What's the poem about? In brief, about being a fat person just trying to live life and accept myself as I am in a society rampant with hateful messages about people who look like me, as well as all manner of unsolicited diet advice. I've written many posts about this subject so I will not go into it too deeply here, but diets don't work, in fact, for most people, they do more harm than good.
There's a place where people can put any unwanted diet advice they may have for me. It's called Where The Sun Don't Shine.
I created the Haiga with Pixlr.com and a free-use image by Bianca Van Dijk on Pixabay.
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/boho-art-female-body-woman-7450246/
It's amusing in a depressing sort of way to search for images of plus-size women. Many people seem to think that plus size means anything with more girth than a twig.
Anyway, you are welcome to use the Haiga (illustrated poem, whatever) but if you do, please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.
~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~
Ornery Owl, learning to respond to hunger cues after decades of Yo-Yo dieting
Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors
Hangry Wyrm's sage wisdom:
"If you're Hangry, eat!"
Do not come between Hangry and her food. She will stab you with her fork.
Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors