Aidoru: A Story in Senryûs

[waldenwriter]

This is a poem I wrote for the November GoodReads Poetry Contest. It didn't make the finals, though. It is a poem made up of senryûs, a form identical to haikus except that senryûs usually are about everyday life, whereas haikus are usually about nature.

I chose the topic after reflecting on research I'd done on Japanese pop culture for a manga my best friend and I were planning to do, where one essay in particular talked about the Japanese pop idol (aidoru) scene.

Anyway, enjoy!

***

Walking alone then
Walking in Harajuku
Then I’m discovered.

Pose in the nice dress
Smiling for the camera
Model, idol, click!

TV idol now
“Be cute for the camera”
My manager says.

Now for my debut
Live event for the fans
Then comes the single.

So many CD’s
“Our agency’s brightest star”
My manager says.

Song tops Oricon
I get many fan letters
World takes notice.

A live concert tour
Europe, America
Famous aidoru.

Anime OP
Song on game soundtracks now too
I’m a great big star

A radio show
“Just be natural with them”
My manager says.

Website, blogging too
Interviews and photobooks
Glamorous jinsei.

Tough competition
Not all stars last forever
How long will mine shine?

New stars eclipse me
“We won’t let your star go out”
My manager says.

No star lasts forever
They say I’m too old for this
Though I’m still quite young.

My star starts to wane
The fan letters don’t come now
Lost, sad aidoru.

My star, it goes out
“I’m sorry it came to this”
My manager says.

Going back home now
Put on my festival clothes
Hi, normal jinsei.

[rossbondreturns]

I like this a great deal. I think I'll have to try one of my own.

Speaking of poetry I have one I might just post in this board tomorrow it's a little more "traditional" as in rhyming.

[waldenwriter]

Nov 21, 2009 0:24:56 GMT -5 rossbondreturns said:

I like this a great deal. I think I'll have to try one of my own.

Speaking of poetry I have one I might just post in this board tomorrow it's a little more "traditional" as in rhyming.

Glad you like it! I came up with the concept after we read old and modern senryus side-by-side in a literary journal for my small press publishing class.

I like traditional poetry myself, though I do have issues with rhyming (even though I bought an actual rhyming dictionary) and I know nothing about how meter works. Avant-garde stuff isn't my thing. Yet I may venture into it a bit due to a sort of challenge I received. At the writing workshop last night, one of the girls said she thought I'd be really good at writing flarf ("found" poetry). Flarf is a very avant-garde concept and not really up my alley, but I decided to try and so far came up with ideas for flarf poems on Twilight (which I'm NOT a fan of) and Vitaminwater (the text on the back of their bottles is some of the wittiest advertising copy I have ever seen). I don't know how those will go though.