Try Your Hand Writing Sijo

A Well-Liked Korean Form of Poetry

By Nadia Giordana - Image by DreamStudio

I mostly write free verse, but when winter drags on for me, I sometimes pass the time writing sijo. It’s a Korean form of poetry (originally meant to be lyrical songs) related to haiku. Another similarity to haiku, sijo is often about spirituality, nature, and love. It usually consists of three parts, 1) an idea or theme, 2) an event, thought or story, and finally,  3) a conclusion, closure, or surprise turn of events. See if you can spot these elements in my  own examples below:
     
A hawk peers down from his cedar perch
     and glares at my intrusion.
He turns his head to follow me
     as I walk blithely by.
I look back to meet the stare—
     and wonder what he thinks  of me.

The above sijo won 1st place several years ago in the now defunct, Sijo West magazine. The one immediately below, is in three-line format, with the first and last examples broken into six lines. Which do you prefer?

When will this dense fog burn off so I can enjoy this precious day?
My poor eyes strain to recognize familiar shapes and forms.
Wait—was that a deer I saw, dissolving into nothingness?

Would that I could reach the sky
     and touch the door of creation
I’d clutch a coal from God’s hearth fire
     and bring it back to Earth for you.
For then the embers of our love
     will surely blaze forever.

Traditionally, sijo is written in 3 lines of 14 to 16 
syllables each. A complete poem should total 
between 44 and 46 syllables. Western sijo is often broken into six lines, following natural breaks. If you look at my first example about the hawk, it is  8 + 7 = 15, 8 + 6 = 14, and 7 + 8 = 15 for a total of 44 syllables. Get it? Now you try.