Submissions Call
for Senryu and Pantoums.
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Dear Readers,
We're hoping to resurrect a couple of old but still worthy forms of poetry for a special issue of the McSweeney's quarterly. Specifically, we're looking for original, unpublished senryu and pantoums. If you've already written such poetry, please send your absolute best to endangeredspecies@mcsweeneys.net, with either "SENRYU" or "PANTOUM" in the subject line. No attachments, please. Those who write senryu, please submit no more than five poems; pantoum writers, send us no more than two. No other forms of poetry will be considered at this time. If you'd like to know more about these magnificent poetic forms, read on.
Senryu
Similar to a haiku, a senryu is a short, unrhymed poem of Japanese origin composed in 17 syllables or less, written in three lines. A 5 / 7 / 5 syllabic structure is not mandatory. The subject material of senryu usually concerns human nature, relationships, work, war, etc., and the poems are often humorous and/or cynical, whereas haiku tend to focus on seasons and nature. Here are some examples of senryu:
Rice formed in the field,
"Beans" formed
On the farmer's hands.
When the school-boy gets home,
He takes off
The lids of the saucepans.
Binding the lies
All together,
The letter-carrier.
Inside a gift box
labeled WONDER DRUG,
a gold coin.
When we would be filial,
Our parents
Are no more.
Having grumbled at his wife
Too much,
He lights the cooking stove.
Pantoum
A pantoum is a poem of Malayan origin composed in quatrains, wherein the second and fourth lines of each stanza are reused as the first and third lines, respectively, of the following stanza. In addition, the first and third lines of the first stanza are reused as the last and second lines, respectively, of the final stanza. The repeated lines may be modified slightly upon repetition. There is no set length or required subject matter. Sometimes the repetition can induce a trancelike effect upon the reader. Here is an example of a pantoum:
Here we are riding the rail,
Gliding from out of the station;
Man though I am, I am pale,
Certain of heat and vexation.
Gliding from out of the station,
Out from the city we thrust;
Certain of heat and vexation,
Sure to be covered with dust.
Out from the city we thrust:
Rattling we run o'er the bridges:
Sure to be covered with dust,
Stung by a thousand of midges.
Rattling we dash o'er the bridges,
Rushing we dash o'er the plain;
Stung by a thousand of midges,
Certain precursors of rain.
Rushing we dash o'er the plain,
Watching the clouds darkly lowering.
Certain precursors of rain:
Fields about here need a showering.
Watching the clouds darkly lowering,––
Track here is high on a bank––
Fields about here need a showering,
Boy with the books needs a spank.
Track here is high on a bank,
Just by a wretched old hovel:
Boy with the books needs a spank––
"No! I don't want a new novel!"
Just by a wretched old hovel,
Small speck of dust in my eye.
"No! I don't want a new novel!"
––Babies beginning to cry.––
Small speck of dust in my eye,
"I will not buy papers or candy!"
––Babies beginning to cry––.
Oh, for a tomahawk handy!
"I will not buy papers or candy!"
Train boys deserve to be slain;
Oh, for a tomahawk handy!
Oh for the cool of the rain!
Train boys deserve to be slain,
Heat and the dust––they are choking,
Oh, for the cool of the rain!
––"Gent" just behind me is joking.
Heat and the dust, they are choking,
Clogging and filling my pores;
––"Gent" just behind me is joking,
"Gent" just in front of me snores.
Clogging and filling my pores,
Ears are on edge at the rattle;
"Gent" just in front of me snores,
Sounds like the noise of a battle.
Ears are on edge at the rattle,
Man tho' I am, I am pale,
Sounds like the noise of a battle,
Here we are riding the rail.
—Brander Matthews
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