I.
Water,
envious of the cold stone
bridge, longs to become solid.
II.
Flowing
under the cold stone bridge,
water freezes to slick silver.
Looking down, I see the fallen moon.
III.
Burbling under the cold stone bridge
– water – almost ice,
seeks to become silent.
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I have enjoyed reading Japanese short poems haiku and tanka for years. Haiku is well known as the three line poem
usually on the theme of nature with a syllable count of 5/7/5 for a total of 17. Tanka, not as well known, is a five line poem
usually regarding a personal experience. In Japanese tanka has with a syllable count of 5/7/5/7/7 for a total of 31. Brief
and intensely focused, these forms of poetic expression try to capture the mood of a moment and pass that experience
to the reader..
The poems above are neither haiku or tanka, but they are an attempt to capture in a few words the fullness of a moment.
There are many words and line arrangements that could capture the event of water freezing to ice.