15 Words • Brave Creativity
Rian Kekoa Padua writes and publishes erotic and typographic poetry, and he is also the creator of the fifteen-word poetry format, an English-language solution to haiku. All content is © 2009 by Rian Kekoa Padua unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Visit BraveCreativity.com.
An excerpt from my latest publication, Pillow Book: More Dirty Morsels, available for $15 (shipping is included) at BraveCreativity.com.
“The following pages contain a poetry structure that I created specifically for the English language. Its formula is simple: there are three words on each line, and there are five lines, giving a total of fifteen words.
“The challenge, then, as in traditional haiku, is to create a sense of space, time, and purity in emotion that transcends the poem’s limitations in word count. Thus, the writer’s commitment to honesty and brevity are paramount.
“I invite you to write your own fifteen-word poems as well. You may notice that a large number of these poems do not focus on nature - as does many traditional haiku or ancient Chinese poems - but rather on human passions. When you write, feel free to explore other subject matters; I just happen to like flesh – you may like nature or families or history or emotions. While you write, keep in mind the words of Matsuo Basho, one of the greatest haiku masters of all time:
”’Do not follow in the footsteps of the old masters, but seek what they sought.’”
-RKPadua
