Eileen R. Tabios is a poet working in multiple genres and in-between. She also loves books by writing, reading, publishing, critiquing, romancing and advocating for them. This blog will feature her bibliophilic activities with posts on current book engagements and links to her books and projects related to books.

Thursday, June 4, 2020

THE HAY(NA)KU AS GARGOYLE!

As world-traveler hay(na)ku visits schools, I'm delighted to share a poem by Brianna Hobson, a student at a CUNY LaGuardia course called "Poetry Workshop" and taught by professor-poet Thomas Fink. Thank you, Brianna!


GARGOYLE 
By Brianna Hobson

I, 
Misanthrope Vampyre.
Erotic, macabre—gothic

I,
Medieval Trickster.
Counterculture creature-feature

I, 
Ghoulish decoration. 
Serpent on Cathedral

I,
Négresse poseur—
Tar baby black.

I,
Perfectly camouflaged,
Among dark flesh—

In,
Mourning garb,
Toe to head.

Charcoal
visage—covered
in whiteface makeup.

Hunchback—
—of Notre 
Dame—French Ogre.

lifestyle
is blasphemous—
Horrible, fiendish, Nietzschean!

The
crows and
ravens caw over

what 
about me
isn’t ‘black enough’

Graveyard 
Poet grieves 
for underground culture.

Basilica 
Moor nobody—
Silhouette of stone

Flying
buttresses—of  
self-loathing. Gargouille?


*****

A few more students also wrote in hay(na)ku. If their poems become available for sharing, I'll be delighted to feature more on this space. I feel blessed!

And if anyone wants to learn more about the hay(na)ku, go to its link ... and here's my latest hay(na)ku book:




1 comment:

  1. Hi, Eileen. It's Brianna J. Hobson. It was so interesting to learn about the hay(na)ku style and even better when I got to write one and make it my own. Thanks so much for reading my poem, it has been an unbelievable honor. I look forward to reading more of your work and discovering more poetic forms.

    ReplyDelete