Day 19
American Sentences
by Ingrid
“Allen
Ginsberg, inspired by the traditional Japanese haiku—three lines of five, seven
and five syllables—invented the “American Sentence,” one sentence of seventeen
syllables…”
—From Ordinary Genius:
Guide for the Poet Within by Kim Addonizio
What is
essential when writing haiku or American Sentences is a brief moment of sudden
aliveness. Like a photo, an
American Sentence is a quick snapshot that allows the reader into the moment.
Prompt:
Write a series
of American Sentences or Haiku after taking a walk in your neighborhood for 30
mins. What images and actions come to the surface? What can you tell the reader
about your surroundings?
Here are some
examples of American Sentences:
Four skinheads stand in the streetlight
rain chatting under an umbrella.
—Allen
Ginsberg
Rainy night on Union square, full moon. Want more
poems? Wait till
I’m dead.
—Allen
Ginsberg
He speeds past fatal car crash site in general
direction of Venus.
—Paul E Nelson
That’s not a fly on the lip of the urinal –
bellybutton lint.
—Paul
E Nelson
The men at the car wash dry droplets—two red
towels windmill— record speed.
—Ingrid
Keir
And a famous
Haiku for good measure:
The old pond —
a frog jumps in,
sound of water.
— Matsuo Basho translated by Robert Hass
Please email your American
Sentences to wordparty@gmail.com
