#sijo — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

The Skeptic's Kaddish @[email protected] · 2026-07-23 · 17:29 UTC

If we remain, or: The last machine

A Sijo

the future glows with aspirations
though none know if we remain;
signals cross the sleepless skyline
in languages no throat has formed;
what if the last machine looks back 
and finds its makers gone?

Reena’s Xploration Challenge 440

For RXC, Reena invites us to compose poems inspired by this visual image of a vast futuristic city glowing with towers, traffic, and airborne vehicles, yet no human figure is visible anywhere.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Absence #Aspiration #Dystopia #Extinction #Humanity #Language #Machines #Poem #Poetry #Sijo #Technology

#absence #aspiration #dystopia #extinction #humanity #language

The Skeptic's Kaddish @[email protected] · 2026-07-15 · 21:03 UTC

Vincent, or: Theo

A Sijo

EPIGRAPH:

the life we painted—over;
blank linen upon my easel;
this choice feels almost sacred;
one false first stroke would skew my course;
still, memory steadies my hand;
old lessons guide the brush I raise

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Anxiety #Beginnings #Decisions #Divorce #Fear #Metaphor #Poem #Poetry #Quote #Sijo #VincentVanGogh

#anxiety #beginnings #decisions #divorce #fear #metaphor

The Skeptic's Kaddish @[email protected] · 2026-07-15 · 08:23 UTC

Search history, or: Hyperlinks

A Sijo

Leon Wieseltier posed questions \\ while poring over manuscripts;
then, years later, I followed links \\ to essays, chapters, printed texts;
my mourning became a map \\ for other lost wayfarers

W3 poetry prompt

For this week’s W3, Jaideep invites us to write a three-line poem showing how a cultural tradition and modern technology meet, interact, or create something new.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Books #Comparison #Internet #Kaddish #LeonWieseltier #Poem #Poetry #Quote #Research #Sijo #VincentVanGogh #W3

#books #comparison #internet #kaddish #leonwieseltier #poem

The Skeptic's Kaddish @[email protected] · 2026-07-05 · 11:41 UTC

I walk, or: Carrying less

A Sijo

sandals, Middle Eastern tan lines
earbuds playing Billy Joel;
the old words sound and sound right
yet their teenage listener has blurred;
midlife's now loosening its grip
I walk on, carrying less

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#BillyJoel #GrowingUp #Immigration #LettingGo #Memories #MiddleAge #Music #Nostalgia #Poem #Poetry #Sijo

#billyjoel #growingup #immigration #lettinggo #memories #middleage

The Skeptic's Kaddish @[email protected] · 2026-07-03 · 08:44 UTC

Arakan, or: Jerusalem

Poetry Partners 268

‘A Refugee’, a poem by Anowar Sadak

I am a refugee
Not by choice,
But by the cruelty
That stole my homeland.

I was born in Arakan,
Where my parents dreamed
I would grow up in peace.
Instead, I inherited fear,
Burning villages, gunfire,
And nights without sleep.

The world calls me a refugee.
Before that, I was a son,
A student,
A dreamer
Who believed tomorrow
Could be kinder than yesterday.

I do not ask for pity.
I ask for justice
For every child forced to flee,
For every family torn apart,
For every homeland
Reduced to ashes.

Though I live far from home,
Arakan still lives within me.
Its rivers, memories,
And the voices of my people
Travel wherever I go.

So I keep writing,
Because my voice cannot be silenced,
My identity cannot be erased,
And hope is stronger than exile.

I am a refugee
But this is not the end of my story.

One day,
I will return home
As a free Rohingya,
Walking with dignity,
Peace,
And hope.

Anowar: https://anowarsadak.wordpress.com/

A ‘Sijo’ by ben Alexander of ‘The Skeptic’s Kaddish’

my people carried Jerusalem
through exile, psalm, and hunger;
today’s broken borders reveal
old longing in new faces;
from Arakan to elsewhere—
the uprooted share one heart

Let’s write poetry together!

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

List of Poetry Partners

#Empathy #Exile #Homeland #Identity #Longing #Memory #Partnership #Poem #Poetry #Refugees #Sijo

#empathy #exile #homeland #identity #longing #memory

The Skeptic's Kaddish @[email protected] · 2026-07-02 · 07:00 UTC

The ghost, or: The silence

A Sijo

for one year, Kaddish gave my loss
a borrowed ancient voice;
then silence marked the threshold
between mourning and forever;
I withdrew after the last amen
but returned to words as breathing

W3 poetry prompt

For Benji’s W3 prompt this week, he invites us to reflect on the quiet we long for, and what happens when it finally arrives. He asks us to consider the uneasy space after busyness, obligation, noise, or familiar chaos has ended, when freedom may first feel welcome but later reveal loneliness, memory, regret, or unexpected clarity.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Kaddish #Poetry #Mourning #Grief #Loss #Poem #Writing #Sijo #SelfExpression #W3 #Threshold

#kaddish #poetry #mourning #grief #loss #poem

The Skeptic's Kaddish @[email protected] · 2026-06-30 · 07:28 UTC

Elsewhere, or: Tomorrow

Poetry Partners 267

‘Just One Hour Before I Die’, a poem by Anowar Sadak

I do not ask
For a lifetime of happiness.

I do not ask
For wealth, power, or fame.

I ask for only one gift—
Just one hr

Just one hour
To know what freedom feels like.

Just one hour
To breathe the air of peace,
With no fear following my footsteps.

Just one hour
To stand with dignity
On the soil of my homeland,
Without being called a stranger.

Since the day I was born,
I have known violence
Better than peace,
Exile better than home,
And survival better than living.

I have buried dreams
Before they had the chance to bloom.
I have carried memories
Too heavy for any child to bear.
Yet my heart still refuses
To stop hoping.

If Allah grants me
Just one hr
Of freedom, peace, and dignity
Before I die,

I will bow my head
In endless gratitude.

Because even one hour
As a free Rohingya
Would be worth
More than a lifetime
Spent in fear.

That one hour
Would heal wounds
No one else could see.

That one hour
Would tell my soul—

You were born human.
You were meant to live free.

And I would leave this world knowing,

This is what it means
To finally live.

Anowar: https://anowarsadak.wordpress.com/

A ‘Sijo’ by ben Alexander of ‘The Skeptic’s Kaddish’

another refugee in the news
another person's fate;
today's comforts surround me
built upon chance circumstance;
I've inherited no guarantees
beyond this current moment

Let’s write poetry together!

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

List of Poetry Partners

#Chance #Comfort #Dignity #Exile #Fate #Hope #Partnership #Poem #Poetry #Refugees #Sijo

#chance #comfort #dignity #exile #fate #hope

The Skeptic's Kaddish @[email protected] · 2026-06-26 · 12:18 UTC

Relieving song, or: Rising steam

A Sijo

my pot begins to murmur
beneath its plain, faithful cap;
every heartbeat finds less room
inside the thick, waiting steel;
then comes the valve's relieving song
each stanza lifts with rising steam

d’Verse: Ars poetica revisited

At d’Verse, we are encouraged to write an Ars Poetica that reveals our relationship with poetry through imagery, symbolism, or personification, showing our writing process rather than simply explaining it.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#ArsPoetica #Conceit #Metaphor #Need #Poem #Poetry #Pressure #Release #Relief #Sijo #Writing

#arspoetica #conceit #metaphor #need #poem #poetry

The Skeptic's Kaddish @[email protected] · 2026-05-20 · 11:59 UTC

Still, or: Shabbat tables call

A Sijo

snowlight whitens the village roofs
while burning windows glow askew;
through rising smoke a wagon tilts
while alleyways darken again;
still our Shabbat tables call
through centuries of ashes

d’Verse: Don’t box me in

At d’Verse, we are encouraged to compose poems inspired by one of several paintings by the famous Jewish painter Marc Chagall (1887 – 1985). I selected ‘Burning House’ (1913).

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Art #Ekphrasis #History #Interpretation #Jewish #JewishHistory #MarcChagall #Painting #Poem #Poetry #Sijo

#art #ekphrasis #history #interpretation #jewish #jewishhistory

The Skeptic's Kaddish @[email protected] · 2026-05-13 · 11:44 UTC

Schoolchildren, or: Shown fireflies

A Sijo

the last clean river snakes
across flickering subway billboards;
schoolchildren are shown fireflies
on grainy government footage;
only old poems remember
how small palms gathered lights

d’Verse: What art says

At d’Verse, we are encouraged to compose poems inspired by one of several pieces of art by Indian artists. I selected ‘Waste Archives as Landscape’ by Navjot Altaf (b. 1949).

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Art #Dystopia #Earth #Future #Garbage #Poem #Poetry #Pollution #Sea #Sijo #Trash

#art #dystopia #earth #future #garbage #poem

The Skeptic's Kaddish @[email protected] · 2026-04-09 · 11:19 UTC

Incoming, or: From sky and screen

A Sijo

in the living room, at my keyboard 
quarter-to-two, the walls still;
the night splits open around me 
air convulses through the room; 
whump—walls shudder—glass rattles 
my mother’s text lights up my phone

Tanka Tuesday: Onomatopoeia

For Tanka Tuesday, we are encouraged to compose syllabic poems that employ onomatopoeia.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Concern #Danger #Iran #Jerusalem #Onomatopoeia #Poem #Poetry #Sijo #Sound #War

#concern #danger #iran #jerusalem #onomatopoeia #poem