Poiku Verse

I’m cheating just a bit this week. As you know, I belong to a poetry group. We meet once a month in the basement of a church to share our poetry. Each month we’re assigned what we affectionately call “poemwork,” a prompt to work on, purely optional, for the next meeting.

It’s not often we’re assigned a form, but we were for this month, it being National Poetry Month and all. And I figured, since I was doing a poem or two for the form anyway, why not share it here as well?

The form is another variation on the Haiku called the Poiku. Instead of referencing nature and the seasons, it condenses a song into three lines. Think of it as the pop version of the Haiku.

It’s still a verse of 17 syllables, 5-7-5. But the content is based on song lyrics. Most songs have three parts – the verse, the chorus, and the bridge. It’s helpful if you can condense each one of these parts into a single line. Don’t forget to include the name of the song as well as the artist.

You’re analyzing the content of the song, distilling the most important points, and then summarizing it into your verse. Perhaps there is a thematic change between the beginning and the end of the song that you can use for effect.


Earthquake and Rapture
escalating, rushing on
world ends, but we’re fine.
It’s the End of the World As We Know It – REM


Wake on the cliff’s edge
night beckons, just one more step
to death or to life
Epiphany – Trans-Siberian Orchestra


Dreamers imagine
a more peaceful, gentle world,
Perhaps, someday soon.
Imagine – John Lennon


Paint your starry night
sanity caught in amber
no one understands.
Vincent – Don McLean


Watch the world outside
repeat tragic history.
Dream your life away.
Dreamer – Ozzy Osbourne