Born on a Full Moon: Senryū

By Fabrizio Frosini and Poets Unite Worldwide

Eighteen poets belonging in the free Association 'Poets Unite Worldwide', have taken part in this compilation of 225 senryū:
Bahareh Azad, Iran/Canada;
Abhilasha Bhatt, India;
Tom Billsborough, UK;
Chito Faustino, USA;
Fabrizio Frosini, Italy;
Afrooz Jafarinoor, Iran;
Farzad Jahanbani, Iran;
Bless Mycho Jamil, The Philippines;
Srijana KC Rayamajhi, Nepal;
Joji Varghese Kuncheria, India/Oman;
Konstantinos Lagos, Greece;
Aron Cheruiyot Lelei, Kenya;
Mj Lemon, Canada;
Kenneth Maswabi, Botswana;
Souren Mondal, India;
Anzelyne Shideshe, Kenya/Germany;
Kim Alan Solem, USA;
Haoran Tong, China;
Savita Tyagi, USA.
***
Being us —the humans— the target of senryū poetry, the poet often places himself/herself at the center of the stage lights, as in the following:
-- "PhD student / I feel postmodern / a human robot" (Bahareh Azad)
-- "breathless, / I buy a pack of cigar / with a health warning" (Bless Mycho Jamil)
An important issue in all human societies, violence against women, is outlined in the following senryū, where the female character does not accept to undergo violence:
-- "she fought like tigress, / steady in savage attack... / spouse wakes up bandaged" (Chito Faustino).
Many senryū are chosen and arranged according to the different situations (themes like sexual matters, family relations, politics, and so on), in order to offer the reader a sort of narrative.
Enjoy the reading!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fabrizio Frosini
• Release date: Dec 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463420973

Fabrizio Frosini

Born in Tuscany, Italy. Currently living close to Florence and Vinci, Leonardo's hometown. Doctor in Medicine, specialized in Neurosurgery, with an ancient passion for Poetry, he is the Author of over 2,000 poems published in 20 personal books. Frosini writes in Italian, his native language, and English. He is the founder of the International Association "Poets Unite Worldwide," with which he has published more than 50 Anthologies. Among his own books: «The Chinese Gardens - English Poems», «Prelude to the Night», «Anita Quiclotzl & Her Souls - Anita Quiclotzl e le Sue Anime» (Bilingual Ed.) - [for the others, see below].~*~In Frosini's Poetry:1. The Truth is Affirmed ; 2. Beauty is Conveyed ; 3. The Personal becomes the Universal.One of the key terms in contemporary poetry is 'POETRY OF WITNESS'. "Florence, A Walk With A View" is an excellent example of this type of poem. It exchanges the anger we experienced in the preceding poem with melancholy, but this is a haunted and desperate melancholy, not at all like the word's root meaning of sweet sorrow. Yet, in Fabrizio Frosini's poem, the city charms the visitor with its natural beauty - "the silky lights of the / Sunset" - and artistic ambiance - "the intimate warmth of nostalgia that makes / Your heart melt at the sight around".In the finest poetry, beauty is conveyed in all of it sensuous and spiritual glory. The title "Water Music" refers to one of Handel's most popular works, a masterpiece of baroque melody, rhythm and harmony. The poem, however, is not about this music.. here is a shining element of the beauty this poem conveys - "I was in my room, staring at the clear sky through the window. The moon, so pale and magical, drawing my imagination to her. In my ears Handel's music was playing softly." - There is the beauty of VITA NOVA, in this Frosini's poem: Dante's idealization of Beatrice with its artistic and moral benefits experienced by a contemporary couple. And finally the beauty of sublimation, when an otherwise sensuous experience must be transferred to the plane of the Imagination. Other Frosini's poem, like "Nocturnal Snowing", are Poems of Memory, that reveal the persistence of an experience of mutual attraction in the poet's life over many decades. There, a young woman, who is forever young and lovely in the poet's mind, becomes a touchstone of emotional value. But not all good experiences are given a future by the hand of fate. And so Frosini's poetry also explores the emotional consequences of the loss of such a promising moment... The prevailing reaction in reader after reader is that Frosini's verses relate to their emotional lives. In other words, Fabrizio Frosini's personal experience reflects their personal experience, and thus the Personal becomes the Universal...~*~Books published as sole Author:(*BE*: Bilingual Editions, English–Italian ; All books have PAPERBACK and EBOOK Editions)– «The Chinese Gardens – English Poems» – English Ed. – (published also in Italian Ed.:– «I Giardini Cinesi» – Edizione Italiana);– «KARUMI – Haiku & Tanka» – Italian Ed.;– «Allo Specchio di Me Stesso» ('In the Mirror of Myself') – Italian Ed.;– «Il Vento e il Fiume» ('The Wind and the River') – Italian Ed.;– «A Chisciotte» ('To Quixote') – Italian Ed.;– «Il Puro, l'Impuro – Kosher/Treyf» ('The pure, the Impure – Kosher / Treyf') – Italian Ed.;– «Frammenti di Memoria – Carmina et Fragmenta» ('Fragments of Memories') – Italian Ed.;– «La Città dei Vivi e dei Morti» ('The City of the Living and the Dead') – Italian Ed.;– «Nella luce confusa del crepuscolo» ('In the fuzzy light of the Twilight') – Italian Ed.;– «Limes —O La Chiave Dei Sogni» ('The Key to Dreams') – Italian Ed.;– «Echi e Rompicapi» ('Puzzles & Echoes') – Italian Ed.;– «Ballate e Altre Cadenze» ('Ballads and Other Cadences') – Italian Ed.;– «Selected Poems – Επιλεγμένα Ποιήματα – Poesie Scelte» – Greek–English–Italian (Αγγλικά, Ελληνικά, Ιταλικά – Greek translation by Dimitrios Galanis);– «Prelude to the Night – English Poems» – English Ed. (published also in Italian Ed.:– «Preludio alla Notte» – Edizione Italiana);– «A Season for Everyone – Tanka Poetry» – English Ed.;– «Evanescence of the Floating World – Haiku» – English Ed.;– «From the Book of Limbo – Dal Libro del Limbo» – *BE*;– «Anita Quiclotzl & Her Souls – Anita Quiclotzl e le Sue Anime» – *BE*.~*~Forthcoming publications:– «Mirror Games — A Tale» – English Edition (also in Italian Ed.:– «Giochi di Specchi — Un Racconto»);– «Il Sentiero della Luna» ('The Moon's Path') – Italian Edition.~*~For the Anthologies published by Fabrizio Frosini with "Poets Unite Worldwide", see Frosini's profile as a PUBLISHER, or POETS UNITE WORLDWIDE's profile.~*~Some of Frosini's poems are also published in the Anthology "Riflessi 62" (Italian Edition), edited by Pagine Srl.~*~Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/poetsuniteworldwide/Website address:https://poetsuniteworldwide.org/Blog:https://poetsuniteworldwide.wordpress.com/Twitter username:@fabriziofrosini

Book preview

After 'Seasons of the Fleeting World – Writing Haiku' and 'Moments of Lightness – Haiku & Tanka', this third book, in a project born to introduce traditional Japanese poetry to our group of poets belonging in the free Association 'Poets Unite Worldwide', is dedicated to Senryū —literally river willow, as the name derived from the pen name (Karai Senryū) of Karai Hachiemon (1718–1790) —, a form that is enormously popular in Japan and that is becoming increasingly popular even in the United States and other parts of the world.

As I wrote in my introductory note to 'Seasons of the Fleeting World', these anthologies are not to be intended as books written or edited by a master: I can’t teach other poets how to write excellent haiku and senryū. Indeed, the aim of the present book is just to help other poets belonging to our Group understand the basic principles of senryū form —a kind of poetry that, with Anita Virgil’s words, deals realistically with the underlying pain we all experience of anguish, injustice, oppression, anger, disappointment [...] through the employment of personification, anthropomorphism, metaphor or conceits that allow the poet to relentlessly point to human foibles, behaviors, characteristics, concerns.

And being us —the humans— the target, the poet often places himself/herself at the center of the stage lights, as in the following examples:

PhD student / I feel postmodern / a human robot

(Bahareh Azad)

breathless, / I buy a pack of cigar / with a health warning

(Bless Mycho Jamil)

An important issue in all human societies, violence against women, is outlined in the following senryū, where the female character does not accept to undergo violence:

she fought like tigress, / steady in savage attack... / spouse wakes up bandaged

(Chito Faustino)

While life in its most sad and unjust, but also paradoxical aspects, is outlined in the senryū below:

ginger haired girl — / he can't take his eyes off her / the blind beggar

(Konstantinos Lagos)

Even a historical reference can serve to describe a present situation, but with a different result, such as the three-word snappy expression ("veni, vidi, vici ~ I came, I saw, I conquered") written by Julius Caesar to the Roman Senate, to sum up his quick victory over the king of Pontus —the five-day campaign against Pharnaces II, in 47 BC:

veni, vidi… — we / alas failed to conquer, so / we hauled off weakly

(Mj Lemon)

My own senryū, which I placed after those written by the other poets (that is, in Part II.), are chosen and arranged according to the different situations (themes like sexual matters, family relations, politics, and so on), in order to offer the reader a sort of narrative.

Nineteen poets belonging in the free Association 'Poets Unite Worldwide',