Fun with form
The American Sentence
The American Sentence is a poetry form invented by Allen Ginsberg in the eighties. It was designed as an alternative to Japanese haiku. Both forms share a total syllable count of seventeen, but a haiku is split over three lines, whereas the American Sentence, as the name suggests, does not contain any line breaks.
They share the same approach of focusing on poignant moments, and they also share a theme. Haiku is about the standard definition of nature, but the American Sentence is grittier and focuses more on urban nature. I think of it as haiku being the countryside and the American Sentence being the city although the American Sentence can fall into both categories. Here are some examples written by Allen Ginsberg:
Four skinheads stand in the streetlight rain, chatting under an umbrella.
Propelled by my feet, chunks of frozen snow skitter down gritty sidewalks.
That grey-haired man in a business suit and black turtleneck thinks he’s still young.
As you can see from these few examples, there is a lot of humanity in the American Sentence, in a more direct way than in haiku; however, over the last few weeks, we have been discussing the aspects of human seasons and their overlap. If we are to consider a city as nature then would that make humans the animals of that specific habitat? Next time you are outside, look around, not at the trees, but at the people. Pay attention to their doing, and try and contain it in a 17 syllable poem. Then look at the common aspects of city life such as trains and technology. Here are a couple of my own:
The men in suits at the bus stop compare briefcases as if they’re hearts.
The morning train powers through the rain trying to shake off the droplets.
Give this a try and please share them. Keep Kind & Stay True Woofenberry’s
To truly understand the concept of the American Sentence listen to Allen Ginsberg below and it gives the exact feeling he was going for when he invented the American Sentence.