Poetry
I Count the Days Without You (a sijo)
With thanks to The Sejong Cultural Society
The calendar lied to us,
saying twelve months make a year.By instead counting weeks or moons
I find thirteen, and not one less.But I would give my missing month
for one more hour with my love.
This poem was chosen for an honorable mention from The Sejong Cultural Society in their annual sijo writing competition for 2024. It received a Friends of Pacific Rim Award.
What is Sijo?
The Sejong Cultural Society defines sijo thusly:
“The sijo (Korean 시조, pronounced SHEE-jo) is a traditional three-line Korean poetic form typically exploring cosmological, metaphysical, or pastoral themes. Organized both technically and thematically by line and syllable count, sijo are expected to be phrasal and lyrical, as they are first and foremost meant to be songs.
“Sijo are written in three lines, each averaging 14–16 syllables for a total of 44–46 syllables. Each line is written in four groups of syllables that should be clearly differentiated from the other groups, yet still flow together as a single line. When written in English, sijo may be written in six lines, with each line containing two syllable groupings instead of four.”
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