Here Be Grooks

[Liar]

Let's see if I can awake the inner grookster in some of you...

I just made a short and silly poem on the Sudden thread, when I read it and realised "Hey, this is a grook!".

Yep. A grook.

A grook is a short, witty little poem. Basically. Or as it says on the cover of "Still more grooks" by Danish scientist turned poet Piet Hein.

            grook (grewk) n. a short rhyming epigram, usually accompanied by a relevant illustration.

But only a few of his own thousand or something little creations actually have illusrtations themselves, and I think they stand pretty well on their own. The core instead being a light hearted way of delivering different philosophical perspectives.

Hein is the granddaddy of all things grook. He's actually pretty alone in writing them. Here are a handful of examples.


...

VITA BREVIS

A lifetime
is more
than
sufficiently long
for people
to get
what there is of it
wrong.

...

THE ROAD TO WISDOM

The road to wisdom? -- Well, it's plain
and simple to express:
Err
and err
and err again
but less
and less
and less.

...

DENMARK

Denmark seen from a foreign land
looks but like a grain of sand.
Denmark as we Danes conceive it
is so big you won’t believe it.

...

LOOK AND THOU SHALT FIND

Foes
of what's cooking
see no worth behind it.
Those
that are looking
for nothing - will find it.

 

[Liar]

And here it is, my first ever grook.


A Matter Of Dedication

An ode to the lint
in my pocket
won't soar to the sky
like a rocket.

Instead it will look
pretty grey,
and then be like lint,
cast away.



more to come...

 

[flyguy69]

Each fall I don my coat and fumble
in pockets that mutter and grumble
of months spent holding the jotted plans
and glasses of a one-year-younger man.

 

[bluerains]

ahhh Liar tis a beautiful way of expression!

writing mostly senryu and such I shall give this a go...tis my first....

imagine each word
dancing its color
inside your head
as you,
the centurion guard
each spoken phrase

 

[Liar]

How sad ain't the truth,
that thoughout their youth;
          the nice guys finish last.
But in the long run
they are so much more fun
          than guys that finish fast.

 

[Angeline]

I love Grooks! I used to have three of Piet Hein's books, and I even have some memorized, like this one:

Naive are you
if you believe
life favors those
who aren't naive



there was another one about tossing a coin in the air that I really liked. I can't find it now though. You know it, Liar?

(I'll see if I can find it)

 

[WickedEve]

And here it is, my first ever grook.


A Matter Of Dedication

An ode to the lint
in my pocket
won't soar to the sky
like a rocket.

Instead it will look
pretty grey,
and then be like lint,
cast away.



more to come...

This is better than granddaddy Hein's grooks.

 

[Angeline]

I found some of my favorites by Piet Hein:

A MAXIM FOR VIKINGS

Here is a fact
that should help you fight a bit longer:
Things that don’t actually kill you outright
make you stronger.


CIRCUMSCRIPTURE

As Pastor X steps out of bed
he slips a neat disguise on:
that halo round his priestly head
is really his horizon.

ON PROBLEMS

Our choicest plans
have fallen through,
our airiest castles
tumbled over,
because of lines
we neatly drew
and later neatly
stumbled over.


ROAD SENSE

God save us, now they're murdering
another winding road,
and another lovely countryside
will take another load
of pantechnicon and car and motorbike.
They're busy making bigger roads,
and better roads and more,
so that people can discover
even faster than before
that everything is everywhere alike.

LOSING FACE

The noble art of losing face
may one day save the human race
and turn into eternal merit
what weaker minds would call disgrace.


(And I found the one about the penny!)

A PSYCHOLOGICAL TIP

Whenever you're called on to make up your mind,
and you're hampered by not having any,
the best way to solve the dilemma, you'll find,
is simply by spinning a penny.
No -- not so that chance shall decide the affair
while you're passively standing there moping;
but the moment the penny is up in the air,
you suddenly know what you're hoping.


And one for all of us here...

IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN

A poet should be of the
old-fashioned meaningless brand:
obscure, esoteric, symbolic, --
the critics demand it;
so if there's a poem of mine
that you do understand
I'll gladly explain what it means
till you don't understand it.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Those
that are looking
for nothing - will find it.

I loved this line and its multiple ways of working beautifully.

Shanglan

 

[Angeline]

There's only one way
to describe love.
Just ask any lover
if stars above or moon
can tell the truth of kiss
and bliss, hers, his.

There's only one way
to describe love.
Does anyone know
what it is?

 

[champagne1982]

If I told you where to look,
you'd seek and never find,
for what is right in front of you
often lies behind.

Quickly turn the pages,
is the answer in this book?
The wisdom of the ages
all written as a grook.

 

[bluerains]

accepting

why does my totality
keep reminding me that
I came to forget
his awareness

 

[Liar]

art is the key
to your soul's balcony
where ephiphanies drift into being

but way too sublime
so that most of the time
you don't know what the fuck you are seeing

 

[bluerains]

true fantasy

polarized in numbness
the urge for life holds
no arousal
enticements are just a sham
from the flim flam man
mind fastened to slumber
response just a parody
of paralyzed annoyance
sinking into the tunnel
of jaded reflection
fantasy may suggest
I forsake this day

 

[foehn]

late-night offerings

Forgetfulness

More and more I’m prone to wonder,
prone to wonder more and more,
not just what I’m looking for,
but what it is I’m looking under.
~~

Vision

If “what you see is what you get,”
then looking closely, you may find
that if you don’t have big things yet,
you could be just a little blind.
~~

Poetics and Tradition

Metonymy is hard to learn;
synecdoche is worse.
With either one, it’s hard to turn
a sow’s ear into silk.
~~


Doctor’s Visit

The doctor taps my knobby knees
to make sure I have no disease,
and then, almost before I pull it,
taps my shriveled, shrinking wallet.
~~

The Arguing Couple

Meter is a dreadful boor,
Rhythm his beautiful mate –
and while their love may not be pure,
they sport a lively gait.
~~

© 2005 by foehn