Jeff Bagato

Looking for a short, fast form for poetry with minimal restrictions but maximum bite? Friends, meet the no-ku: four lines (standard), short on syllables (from two to eight), rhymed (by different schemes), topical (or not), satirical (preferred). It's condensed like haiku, but prefers intense outbursts and constant re-invention, like no wave punk. No Ku. I started writing these short poems during the "economic collapse," when corporations and business leaders that had previously slammed "welfare" began asking for bigger and bigger government bailouts. Reading the Washington Post, my outrage needed an outlet, and like a junkyard dog barking at an intruder safely beyond the fence, spewed out "Buy out/Bail out/Blow off/Pay off." Many more followed, and they seemed to summarize my disgust as well as capture the moment represented on the front pages. No ku poems pierce/ The veil of the fierce/ Some small counterforce/ Through use of the farce