Category: Poetry

  • Japanese Influence on American Poetry: Adelaide Crapsey

    Japanese Influence on American Poetry: Adelaide Crapsey

    Adelaide Crapsey (1878 – 1914) invented a form called American cinquain based on Japanese tanka. Instead of a syllabic form (5-7-5-7-7 in the tanka) the cinquain is based on stress patterns with a 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 1 stress pattern. The pattern is often iambic (two syllables, with the second syllable…

  • Alone in a Pesthouse

    Alone in a Pesthouse

    In commemoration of my first known bout with Covid, on Sept. 14, 2024 (yes, I had quite a run!), here’s a poem I wrote pre-pandemic. It’s a historical smallpox poem based on an 1892 NY Times article about one Mr. Green. He was a prosperous fellow whose family, a wife and six children, succumbed to…