If you attended the wonderful Inlandia Book Fair held this past Saturday at the Barnes and Noble, Riverside, you will remember that I invited participants and guests to try their hands at the Ashberrian (or is it Ashberryian?) haiku: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables in each line of your poem. Make as many lines as you want for your Thanksgiving oeuvre.
Here’s an example of this sort of poetic line:
Thanksgiving turkey? Yes, it can be fabulous — if I don’t cook it.
Please keep your poems free of extremely dirty words, and of racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, classism, ageism and the like.
Put them in a comment, and I’ll post — subject to moderation.
Happy Thanksgiving!
PS — please support Inlandia by buying books at Barnes and Noble and using the special INLANDIA code: 11484482 — good through 11/28!
Stephanie Barbé Hammer is a magical realist prose fiction writer, novelist, occasional essayist, and a committed, intermittent poet. A 6-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize she has published work in Hayden's Ferry, Pearl, CRATE, Rhapsoidia, NYCBigCityLit, the East Jasmine Review, Apeiron, Inlandia, Literary Alchemy and the Bellevue Literary Review among other places. Her novel _The Puppet Turners of Narrow Interior_ appeared in March 2015 with Urban Farmhouse Press, and her Narrow Interior novelette, _Rescue Plan, appeared in February 2021 with Bamboo Dart Press. Her poetry collection _How Formal?_ was published in 2014 with Spout Hill Press and her prose poem collection _SEX WITH BUILDINGS_ was published in May 2012 by Dancing Girl Press. Stephanie flunked early retirement at the University of California Riverside and is currently feeding her teaching love at Edmonds Community College, Hugo House and the Inlandia Institute. iShe is currently managing editor for SHARK REEF literary magazine and is working on two new novels, and two new poetry collections, Her manual on how to write magical realism _Delicious Strangeness_ is available from Spout Hill Press.
View all posts by Stephanie Barbé Hammer
4 thoughts on “Inlandia Thanksgiving Ashberrian Haiku Invitational — a special Magically Real extravaganza”
For ten miles, rainbows
illuminate the freeway.
So, “Are we there yet?”
At the exit, we round
the curve. More rainbows light up
the sky, framing hills.
We are almost home.
We pass scaffolding, turn left
then right and again.
Happy, Happy, Day.
Thanks for the persimmon. Please
pass the pumpkin pie.
Thanks Carol! You’ve reverted to the traditional format, which is cool. But how about this: For ten miles rainbows illuminate the freeway. So are there yet?” as one line? Then you do the rest the same way. Try it, and see what you think!
When the vegan cooks, Thanksgiving looks like a feast, except — where’s the cheese?
Vegetarian, at least you include meat, but — what’s a Tofurky?
Turkey on the plate? The pescatarian frowns, stuffs his face with hake.
But giblets even — for the pollotarian — are delicious eats.
Flexitarian, okay, I get it, you eat meat, but…. not TODAY?
No worries though if you cook for the omnivore who adores it all!
Stephanie Barbé Hammer Writing (Un) Real 
For ten miles, rainbows
illuminate the freeway.
So, “Are we there yet?”
At the exit, we round
the curve. More rainbows light up
the sky, framing hills.
We are almost home.
We pass scaffolding, turn left
then right and again.
Happy, Happy, Day.
Thanks for the persimmon. Please
pass the pumpkin pie.
Thanks Carol! You’ve reverted to the traditional format, which is cool. But how about this: For ten miles rainbows illuminate the freeway. So are there yet?” as one line? Then you do the rest the same way. Try it, and see what you think!
Stephanie – here you go! 🙂
Thanksgiving: A Guide for the Uninitiated
When the vegan cooks, Thanksgiving looks like a feast, except — where’s the cheese?
Vegetarian, at least you include meat, but — what’s a Tofurky?
Turkey on the plate? The pescatarian frowns, stuffs his face with hake.
But giblets even — for the pollotarian — are delicious eats.
Flexitarian, okay, I get it, you eat meat, but…. not TODAY?
No worries though if you cook for the omnivore who adores it all!
perfect! (I’d expect no less). Happy T-day!