Awaken
Dawn approaches, through the lens of 3 Asian forms
Awaken | Shi, Tang Poetry (China, 7th-9th Century)
Blanket of darkness, night’s embers hold
A wooded ridgeline, in snow’s bitter cold
Sleepers hide, dare to tarry inside
Safe, silent, snow falling.
Light pierces dark, for night’s demise
Deep beneath blankets, sleepers rise
Sun crests the hill, as most mornings will
Wake to coffee. Morning is calling.
As a photographer, it can be hard to put words to our favorite images, especially when they trigger strong memories. Pictures speak for themselves, yes? But as a writer, finding words that emote complex, heartfelt ideas is not only our biggest challenge, it’s a skill central to our craft. So, no turning back. As powerful as pictures can be, we need words tell the rest of the story.
But that doesn’t mean our creative forces can’t intertwine. I often find it in a strong visual metaphor, an image that gets us thinking, remembering, or wondering. Our inner photographer and inner writer don’t need to be in conflict. Sometimes — and for me, more and more — an alchemy takes hold.
Where is the common ground? What is possible? To me, the job of the creative is to find out.
We raise the bar further when we challenge ourselves to brevity, one of the many creative challenges facing our inner poet.
At the top of this post, I tried my hand at shi, a style popular in the Tang Dynasty. It featured 5 or 7 words per line, some sort of rhyming scheme, and 4-line couplets. But after writing this, I was curious what would happen if I tried writing in other styles, still focusing on the same source image and supporting metaphors. I looked into other historical Asian forms — Korean Sijo, and the more familiar Japanese Haiku — both to challenge myself, and to explore the mix of ingredients when brevity, structure and tradition converge.
Let’s see what happened.
Awaken | Sijo (Korea, 14th-18th Century)
Blanket of darkness, holding nights embers against bitter cold
Nestled by a wooded ridge, sleep lingers under more blankets
Until light pierces darkness, and coffee lures sleepers to greet the day
Awaken | Haiku (Japan, 19th Century)
Blankets draped like snow
As sun crests on the ridgeline
Dawn hints of coffee
As I reflect on these, I may be partial to having more words to work with, and more room to maneuver. Highly succinct forms — haiku in particular — make it much harder to paint the nuances of the landscape. Sometimes, that’s a good thing. And perhaps the more difficult challenge?
What resonated here? What aspects of each form appeal to you?
If you have a minute, that is. Just curious.
Follow me on Twitter, Instragam, and definitely here on Medium, I love this place. And check out my new publication, Just Curious — where we’re exploring the challenges of brevity, in all its forms.
