The way a chain poem grows will be explained by reference to the first three poems from the 2003 edition of Space Poem Chain, "Life on Earth":
| Space—this intense darkness might absorb anything Four and a half billion years ago in light the Sun was born The Earth shines bluely, a star of living beings Four billion years ago in the oceans life was born It swam up rivers, came ashore, soared into the skies. Mamoru Mohri I am a seagull! A seagull! From the damp sand I fly lightly up a boat with a sailor divining by the stars appearing Ryoko Shindo The best star diviner can not witness the drama of a new star’s birth unfolding within the mother star’s womb so how could anyone foretell the future of the sparks in your heart Makoto Ooka |
- Rule 1:
- The Space Poem Chain is formed from the alternating repetition of 5 line and 3 line poems. If the immediately preceding poem is 5 lines, then the next is 3; if the immediately preceding poem is 3 lines, then the next is 5.
- Rule 2:
- The starting point of your own poem should be a word or a line from the immediately preceding poem. You can quote the word or line verbatim, as in example 1 below, or you can allude to the idea of the word or line, using different words, as in example 2 below.
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- Example 1:
- Attracted by the phrase “divining by the stars” in the immediately preceding poem by Ryoko Shindo, Makoto Ooka takes it as his point of departure in the third poem, quoting it almost exactly.
- Example 2:
- Attracted by the idea and imagery evoked by the phrase “soared into the skies” in the immediately preceding poem by Mamoru Mohri, Ryoko Shindo takes it as her point of departure for the second poem, and exclaims “I am a seagull! A seagull!”
- Rule 3:
- When you write a poem for the chain, please learn to:
*Take off in a different direction from the previous poem
*Make it possible for the next person to continue (don't fill everything in)
*Be concrete, not abstract
