Augie and Wanda are two principal characters from my chapbook, Michigan Gothic. As death comes to Augie, it parallels the death of the American family farm and a culture that once helped to define who we are. This chapbook tells the story of Augie and his family through a series of twenty free-verse poems. Available for $6.00 from Amazon.com. Better yet, read it for free at my website.
Pronounced Shi-jo, it is a concise Korean poetic form consisting of three lines, each containing 14-16 syllables, totaling 44-46 syllables. These lines feature a midpoint pause, akin to a caesura, although it need not adhere to a specific meter. The first half of each line encompasses six to nine syllables, while the second half should contain no fewer than five. Each line should consist of four groups of syllables that fall into natural groupings. 4/4/3/4 (total of 15 syllables) for example. Modern Sijo are often presented in six lines with breaks at the caesuras so the syllable groupings might 4/4 followed be a 4/3, or any combination of syllables as long as the total is 14-16.
Many Korean Sijo poets write in sequences of two or more stanzas. One of the most famous and revered Sijo poets, Yi Un-sang, wrote a Sijo sequence of ten stanzas, each stanza following the traditional structure.
In this book I share some of my own Sijo sequences (or linked Sijo). In some cases these poems began life as free verse poems, several of them published in their original form. I found that the rhythm and musicality of these poems was greatly enhanced by rewriting them following the pattern of the Sijo form.
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— David Jibson
The book, Year of Moons is a free download at https://davidkjibson.com/
The Way of the River: Sijo Poetry in English is a chapbook that features many of my own Sijo poems and resource information on the Sijo form, including classical and contemporary examples. It’s a free download at: https://davidkjibson.com/
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Twelve Korean Sijo poems in English with text. Read by the author.
Dark City is the lead-off poem from the chapbook Poem Noir, a celebration of noir film in poetry. Dark City sets the stage for a parade of characters, plots and familiar settings. Inside you’ll find dark cityscapes and blind alleys. There are private-eyes, taxi dancers, thugs, mugs, crime bosses, night club sirens, crooked cops, gun molls and a morgue full of bodies. The best part is it’s a free download at:
https://davidkjibson.com/
Poem Noir is available for $6.00 at Amazon.com.
David K. Jibson 