Poetry Slam 1: Haiku for You

[labyrinth2015]

Thank you to everyone for their kind words and feedback on my short passionate R-rated love vignette. Thanks to the awesome feedback (and seriously amazing shout-out from clionona: I'm so not worthy, babe!), I am much less terrified of wading into the charged R!waters.

But first up, so you all don't lose all respect for me, ha ha, some quasi-serious verse.  fieryrogue was, for a variety of reasons, recently demanding Cookleta haiku, which I haven't written since first year high school.  My poetry muse (Calliope?) struggled with the kind of weird, too-brief poetic form (three lines: 5 syllables, then 7, then 5 again), until I realised the haiku was supposed to be meant for the awesome band of Cookleta fanfic writers and cheerleaders - addressed to their amazing, talented fic and words.

And, accordingly,my muse addresses fieryrogue, slashophile's gorgeous No Fate But Your Own Fate, lire_casander's epic Reaching for the Stars, clionona's Thirst, storylandqueen 's Barriers!fic,  rajkumari905's hilarious, hot In(Sobriety), motherendurance's mammoth Oceanic Descent,  epicflailer's As Old As Rhyme, hopefulgenius' the minor fall, irishdf  and magickaldreamer.

ETA: Added a haiku for maimiejay's awesome Suburbia!

You girls are just the best. Anyone else similarly drawn to the haiku slam, I would be so delighted if you were to post your offerings! Or, of course, if anyone wants a haiku - for themselves or their own fic, or someone else's, I would be happy to oblige.

Title: Haiku for You:
Pairing: The Davids
Rating: From G to PG-13 (kind of difficult to make R haiku, yk)

Haiku For You



(For Bobbie)

Impermanence

Cook thinks he's found love
with a kiss on the neck
he loses himself 

*
(For Britts)

no fate but

you know this is fate
when love catches you off-guard
like an avalanche

* 
(For Maria)

reach for this

"It may kill you, Cook."

"I need to do this, for him.
Sing my song with me?"

*
(For B, and VampCook!)

undead things

The boy smiles, so brave,
And his dead heart beats again.

"Cook, I'm not afraid."

* 
(For CL)

barriers

You're leaving? Oh, then
hold me tonight, one last time:
and never again.

*
(For Pri)

Sober

David makes a plan:
pretends to be drunk so that
Cook will make him his.

* 
(For Renata)

Descent

Tethys swims the deep
And gifts one soul with her song -
- Cook is mesmerized.

*
(For Nat)

As Old as Time

Librarian, lost;
Trapped by a reluctant Beast -
Beauty's saved by Love.

* 
(For Meggie) 

lift, and fall

you slam the door, and
sit with your head in your hands.
(baby, please come back.)

*
(For Dee)

The Universe Points Here

Giving in to love:
This is where it all begins.
You, and no one else.

*

(For Robyn)

Music

David loves to sing:
Makes music, when making love.
Cook loves to listen.

*
Edited to add: (For Penrith)

No Escape From This

Action: put your hand
against this, my deepest self.
Feel my reaction.

*
(For Amy)

Beneath The Flowers

Wisteria Lane:
Where lives a beautiful boy.
Cook loses his heart.

*fin*

*

Edited Further to Add: This is for conditionelle's amazingly written Kradamfic, In the Mirror of Invention. Woman, in my dreams, I write like you.


(For Conditionelle)

le passe simple

Leaving her behind:
From major, a simple shift
to minor falling.

x
*fin*

 

Comments

[rajkumari905.livejournal.com]

These are brilliant. Dude. I don't even have words, except that these are fantastic.

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

Hee. I had lots of fun writing them! I hope you liked *yours*!

[rajkumari905.livejournal.com]

Um, I loved it!

[fieryrogue.livejournal.com]

I've revived the art of haiku!

XD

Oh geez, these are awesome!

(Ooh, I soooo need to catch up on Cookleta. I feel like I've abandoned it...)

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

YES, YOU HAVE.

This is all your fault - but I loved it, as you know ;)

(um, as you also know, The First Time, downstream? Also thanks to you?)

[fieryrogue.livejournal.com]

Oh GOSH. I need to stop being so influential. O_O

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

YES. It's you, and your Harem of Sin, and Influence!!

[lire-casander.livejournal.com]

These are all amazing. I am truly floored that you dedicated one to me! I think I'll link it to the fic once I sign up on the account... (after the madness this dissertation is is over)

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

Baby, you know how much I adored Reaching For The Stars to Hold On To, and my love spewed forth in haiku, truly ;)

Hope the diss. feedback was good, hon, and it is OVER SOON!

[lire-casander.livejournal.com]

Well, I had to change some things on the paper, but it's being printed right now and I'm handing it in tomorrow. A post about this will be written sometime between tonight and tomorrow, but just know... I had the best of feedbacks possible.

It is over tomorrow, I can't believe it! I still have to defend it on the 26th, but hey, that's a walk in the park.

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

GO YOU for the best feedback, hon. I know you are brilliant and your defence will go brilliantly! SO PROUD of you. *hugs*

[lire-casander.livejournal.com]

I got a freaking A, you know? AN A! After the director had a look at the draft, you see, it wasn't even the completed paper.

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

*jumps up and down squeeing*

GIRL! Gosh, SO SO PROUD of you!! an A! Off of the draft, even!! Did I not tell you that you were brilliant??

All the pain and effort and late night rushing? SO WORTH IT.

*tackles you happily*

[lire-casander.livejournal.com]

*squees with you*

The pain and the effort and the long nights (tonight I have another one piling up - I need to rewrite the academic CV and the summary of the paper in just 3 pages instead of the 5 I have...) all of that is worth this. So I went a bit crazy and celebrated... writing birthday ficlets I was late for. They're all posted, though you may miss my AS/S fic (I don't know if you're into Harry Potter)

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

aieee, fic from you! *rushes off to read*

[motherendurance.livejournal.com]

Dearest!

Sorry for butting in but I need to SQUEEEEE! Congratulations!!!

Your total brilliance shines forth:-D

I know how hard you've been working, ad now all your effort will pay off richly, bb.

Love and kisses,
Renata

[lire-casander.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!!!

I love you too!

[epicflailer.livejournal.com]

AFDHKJSFS OH MY GOSH. OH MY GOSH I WILL BE BACK TO SQUEE ALL OVER THIS, JSYK, THIS IS JUST A PLACEHOLDER COMMENT, BUT OMFG, YOU ARE BRILLIANT. YOU ARE BRILLIANT AND ILTHIS AND I AM TOTALLY HONOURED THAT BEAUTY AND THE BEAST IS UP THERE OMFG. *FLAILS FOR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!*

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

Hee, the capslock! ;) I must say I kind of squeed happily to myself when I realised "Librarian" had four syllables, thereby lending itself to opening line 1 ;)

[epicflailer.livejournal.com]

isjkagsdijksag just oh my gosh, i have never, ever, ever been able to write or understand poetry, so it always amazes me when other people can, and these, oh my gosh, these were brilliant, all of them, and i haven't read all these stories but even then, the emotion was so raw and breathtaking and i could feel all of it, idek. i'm in awe, and i hope you decide to do more some day. and even if you don't, the kind of amazingness that the davids are the muses of makes me smile every day, so thank you for being a part of that, my dear! <3333

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

What I totally need to do is go make links for the fic up there, don't I. YES.

And, thank you for the sweetness, my dear; the poetry muses have been kind! I kind of liked the one I made for your Meg - I hope it was as raw and stripped-bare and evocative as that definitive fic of hers.

[clionona.livejournal.com]

These are all amazing and beautiful, bb!
Every single one!
So much emotion packed into so few words...

I am in awe of you, as always! (Will I ever tire of saying that? Nope! Don't think so!)

And you are far too sweet to me! Far too sweet!

♥!

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed them, bb. They were so much fun to write! Yours, for instance, totally wrote itself - flinging itself like the little hussy it was against Vamp!Cook's quivering beautiful undead flesh ;).

And, I actually loved writing Maria's, because her fic was so emotional and I just wanted to capture that moment, that point in the conversation where Cook asks David to sing with him.

[hopefulgenius.livejournal.com]

JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! THESE ARE SO AMAZING! and, oh, oh you did the minor fall AND BROKE MY HEART, FFFFFFFFFF OH MY GOSH. GUHHH I HAVE NO WORDS. <33333333333

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

Hon, you know how I loved the minor fall. Honestly, yours just wrote itself as well - channelling the grief in your searing, heartbreaking fic, the seven beat line just flowed out, followed by the five beat ending. SO GLAD you enjoyed it!

ILOVE YOUR HAIKU!!!

[motherendurance.livejournal.com]

Darling Jay!

Thank you so much... I am very honoured to have received one of your beautiful Haiku! (and it's even my very favourite one, although they are all fabulous:-)

What a totally cool idea. bb you just floor me with your awesomeness...

Nitpicking detail, "mesmerized" is the spelling I am pretty sure.

Thank you for including a mention of the Goddess with a thousand names, it really means a lot to me!

Love,
Renata

Re: ILOVE YOUR HAIKU!!!

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

heh. I think I broke my spellcheck with my haiku-writing phase. Ok, the sp is fixed.

I struggled with yours, bb, to find the balance of reality and wonder that infuses your fic - I knew I wanted to incorporate the sea, but it wasn't until I wrote in the name that is my favourite of the Sea Goddess that I knew where this haiku was headed. And it was natural to end on the 3-beat "mesmerized". Glad you liked!

Re: ILOVE YOUR HAIKU!!!

[motherendurance.livejournal.com]

I think between this haiku, my story, and the stack of books on the matriarchal Goddess-based traditions, old and new, from around the world, I am becoming a real live Goddess worshiper.

Perhaps I am slightly too invested in my story?

As Hilma Wolitzer says, "Writing fiction is a solitary occupation but not really a lonely one. The writer's head is mobbed with characters, images and language."

And this, I love this... it feels so true to me,

"All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath." ~F. Scott Fitzgerald, in an undated letter to his daughter.

Oh and you, you evil girl, you have gotten me hooked (lined and sunk) by Guy Gavriel Kay.

I am reading (devouring) "The Lions Of Al-Rassan", and Holy Muses, is it ever fabulous.

I LOVE Jehane. I want to BE Jehane. Or, failing that, Miranda...

((((Jehane)))
~Renata

PS. Tethys is my favourite as well:-) But don't tell the other Divine Aspects of the Goddess, or they might get pissed off at me...

Re: ILOVE YOUR HAIKU!!!

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

Darling, you totally need to love you some GGK. The man is one of Canada's best historical fantasy writers! I love and want to be Jehane too, and thanks to the magical interface of the internets, I appropriate her guise (and borrow some of her steadiness, and courage).

And, one can never be too invested in one's story, lol. I am so waiting for 16, my dear!

[asweetdownfall.livejournal.com]

Oooh you did such a gorgeous job with these! I love haikus, so I enjoyed reading all of them. :)

'Music' and 'As Old As Time' are my favorites. They're all brilliant though. ♥

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

Thank you, hon! I posted these in the order in which I wrote them - so, by conventional wisdom, they should get better as I got better with the medium!

As I was sayin', I loved Nat's story (and tried to make the haiku as Elegant and Symbolic), and "Music" (the middle line, echoing their two key concepts of music and love and book-ended by Archie and David's opening and closing lines) was, for me, the point when I said to myself, "Hey, I can actually write these!".

Gosh, I didn't mean to be so self-referential! I'm just glad you liked them!

[conditionelle.livejournal.com]

kgjhdkfhgdkfgh that's it exactly, yes

Okay, oh my God, coherence fleeing. First of all, haikus -- which, um, already automatic win. But oh my God, the quality of these -- it's just stunning. This is lex parsimoniae at its purest and you just get it distilled down to simplistic but oh so evocative beauty.

And I am, of course, so honoured. hearts;

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

Madam, such a beautiful compliment (lex parsimonae!), and it means so much, coming from you. Am grinning like an idiot, truly. You do get me, too, sometimes.

I'm just glad you thought I honoured your gorgeous fic!♥!

[penrith1.livejournal.com]

Jehane you are all kinds of wonderful. These are brilliant. How you express the essence of the fictions is staggering. I am speechless. You just keep getting better. I am so happy that you friended me.

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

Oh, darling, I am so glad you friended me! Here is a haiku for you - please consider it a placeholder, until I get around to R!fic. Based on your sexay song prompt, Cook's Let Go:

(For Penrith)

No Escape From This

Action: put your hand
against this, my deepest self.
Feel my reaction.

[penrith1.livejournal.com]

Holy Cow That is brilliant. I bow to you and will treasure this.

[pixiebeanz.livejournal.com]

These are beautiful ♥

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you so much!

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh, that haiku is just...brilliant! I've never had someone write something for me before so this just makes me happy. :) Thank you! GOSH. SO MUCH LOVE.

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

*smiles* I am so glad you liked this little haiku! You know how I loved No Fate But Your Own Fate, and was totally inspired by it, and you, bb.

And, aww, you totally have fic written for you, doll! Your wife hears that, she'll make you sleep on the sofa ;)

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

Oh gosh. You make me blush, woman. :D Thank you!

LOL. Let me amend that, I meant I've never had someone write something for one of my fics before. XD Sorry, type!fail.

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

*grins. I actually love making tribute haikus and fic - did you read the Rainbow Flag And Other Stories? Gosh, it was so much fun!

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

No! I haven't read that! Is that in the rec e-mail?

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think so? It's Fic 11, on my page upstream. My fave ficlet is from Rogue's Somewhere That's Green. ;)

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

Aww, I loved that fic. That was the first fic she ever shared with me. *happies* I'VE BEEN IN LOVE EVER SENSE.

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

I loved it too - it's my fave surrogacy fic. And it's too cute you guys fell in love over it!

oo, I hope you think I did it justice...!

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

LOL, ikr? I was like "oh this is a woman after my own heart!"