Write a poem to a fictional beloved and get a chance to win copies of Flipside ebooks of romance and love poetry!
The writing of love poetry is a great Valentine tradition—what can be more romantic than the expression of insurmountable passion and the simultaneous attempt to sublimate and rein it in with the constraints of a poem?
The challenge: Write a love poem to your beloved. The catch: the beloved must be a fictional character, and the poem must follow one of the following poetic forms: the SONNET (may be Shakespearean, Petrarchan, Spenserian, or Occitan), the Japanese TANKA (five lines, 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic pattern), or the Filipino TANAGA (four lines, seven syllables each, dual rhyme form).
The prize: We’ll choose a poem from each category. The winners will get a free copy of a romantic ebook of their choice published by Flipside:
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Home by Kat Santos – a contemporary romance of the ascended fangirl trope set in Japan
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Mabuhay! by Marcial Lichauco and Carlos Quirino – a historical novel set in the Philippines during World War II with a romantic subplot between a mestiza of the local elite and an American soldier.
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Voices in the Theater by A.S. Santos – a paranormal romance with overtones of horror
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Wander Girl by Tweet Sering – a coming-of-age, travel romance
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Woman in a Frame by Raissa Falgui – a young adult historical romance set in 19th century Philippines, just before the “Tagalog Revolution” against the Spanish broke out
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100 Love Poems: Philippine poetry since 1905 edited by Gemino Abad and Alfred Yuson
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The Sonnets (new illustrated edition) by William Shakespeare
To join, just comment on this post with your poem. Multiple submissions are allowed.
The poems will be judged according to:
Form (50%) – the poems should conform to the formal structure of the sonnet, the tanka, or the tanaga, including lines, rhyme scheme, and even meter.
Content (30%) – avoidance or deliberate appropriation of clichés, must appeal to the beloved’s character (if the beloved is, say, Mr. Darcy, the persona shouldn’t be like Lydia Bennet).
Affect (20%) – once all the poems are in, we’ll invite readers to vote for their favorite poem through our Facebook fanpage.
Deadline: February 25, Monday, 12 nn. We’ll post the poll on the same day. Readers can vote until February 27. We’ll announce the winners on February 28.
Tanaga sa Pagsundo
Oras yata’y may bara
sa biyaheng mapag-isa.
Huwag sanang mainip,
imbes saki’y manabik.
Sonnet:
Once
Once I wondered what
Must be done to capture
The fire that kept your heart
Lit marvelously from within;
Once I tried everything
And failed even to glimpse
Its source—chariot treading
Across the sky, oblivious that
Once there was a man
Who dreamt of love amid
The wars inside our heads;
Echoes bouncing off walls
That knew no faith, no creed,
Glass goblets drained long ago.
Sonnet to Tadzio (from Death in Venice)
Once
Once I wondered what
Must be done to capture
The fire that kept your heart
Lit marvelously from within;
Once I tried everything
And failed even to glimpse
Its source—chariot treading
Across the sky, oblivious that
Once there was a man
Who dreamt of love amid
The wars inside our heads;
Echoes bouncing off walls
That knew no faith, no creed,
Glass goblets drained long ago.
Tanaga kay Maria Clara (mula sa Noli Me Tangere)
Ikaw ang tanging mahal
Biyaya ng maykapal;
Kaya’t tanging dalangin
Di ka mawalay sa ‘kin.
Tanaga kay Laura (mula sa Florante at Laura)
O sinta, aking hirang,
Ang puso ko’y iyo lang;
At sa habang panahon
Ito ang lagi kong tugon.
Tanka for Yuichi (from Kinjiki by Yukio Mishima)
Early morning sun
Swallows singing in the trees
Clouds mirror your face–
Such an arduous journey
Weakens the heart and the soul.
(tanka for Tsutako Takeshima, from Maria-sama ga Miteru by Oyuki Konno)
sakura blossoms
petals fall, then comes the rain
an orange blanket
on the earthen floor turns white
captured through lens of the soul
(tanka for Naoko Kamikishiro, from Boogiepop Wa Warawanai by Kouhei Kadono)
wind blew in the hearth
and I drift away from here
burning through mem’ries
now I breathe in your spirit
to cry a forgotten song
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(tanka for Subaru Sumeragi, from “Tokyo Babylon” and “X/1999″ by CLAMP)
burn bright, Pleiades
cast away the dark’s embrace
and light up this earth
to love is your only sin
to shine is your life’s burden
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