The Open Mic session for poetry reading, singing, and whatever other performance piece one might like to offer was especially fun this week.  Even though the Lantern Festival had just passed, we set that as our theme for the week.  The attendance was good, and many people brought things to share.

One of the participants brought lantern-shaped poems (a type of cinquain), and challenged the rest of us to write some short verses to fit the form.  The structure works like this:

Line 1:  one-syllable, a noun

Line 2:  two syllables, describing the noun in the first line

Line 3:  three syllables, describing the noun in the first line

Line 4:  four syllables, describing the noun in the first line

Line 5:  one syllable, a synonym or near synonym for the noun in the first line

I worked with two friends on the project, and here are the poems we came up with:

lights

hanging

from the roof

in a cluster

lamp

*******

tree

quiet

refreshing

in the corner

green

*******

face

image

surreal

in the mirror

dream

*******

strings

elsewhere

vibrating

loose in the air

heart

- Lily, Penny, and Shelly, February 2009

*******

The Open Mic session is a weekly event.  We don’t always compose verse on the spot, but there are always some readings, and some music, and loads of good conversation.

Join us Wednesdays at 7:30 pm, at the Friends Cafe (60 Xin Le Lu, 2nd Floor).

(Thanks Penny and Lily for letting me post the poems!)