The Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal has created a new poetry form called the pareiku.
The word “pareiku” combines two concepts:
- ‘pareidolia’ – the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern.
- ‘-ku’ – a tribute to Japanese poetry forms like the haiku and tanka.
The rules to create this form are quite simple:
- Link together two seemingly unrelated images as one via a 19-syllable poem.
- The poem must have a title and follow the 7-5-7 syllable pattern. Punctuation is optional.
- The two images can feature the same or different types of visual art. But you must own copyrights / have permission from the artist(s) to use those images. And credits are required at the end of your piece.
- Pareiku are meant to be positive / inspirational and family-friendly. So no erotica and no swear words allowed.
Learn more about the form here: Pareiku
The pathway through the darkness
replete with dangers—
often leads us to the light
©2020 Colleen M. Chesebro



Want to write syllabic poetry? Join me every Tuesday at Word Craft ~ Prose & Poetry.
Never heard of this form. It sounds interesting and fun. Thanks Colleen.
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You’re welcome. I like the visual aspects of the images supplementing the poetry-form. Something different and great fun. Auroras & Blossoms created this.
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Thanks. I’m going to give it a go.
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Make sure and link to their site. Maybe she will add your poem in her journal publication. 😀
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Yes, we wanted to create something totally unique. You should give it a try! Show us when you do!
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Hello Colleen!
Lovely job on the pareiku! We are very excited that you are the first person to try our new form. We look forward to reading many more from you!
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The first one? It’s always fun to try something new. ❤️
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Well, yes you were the first one after us. It’s nice to see people who love a good challenge. 😉
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Yay! I love syllabic poetry, Cendrine. Good luck with the new form. ❤️
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Beautiful, Colleen, and a lovely form. 💖 I love the lovely background color you chose – so easy on the eyes.
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It’s not too pink? I’m experimenting with colors. It seems easier on the eyes. I notice you’re using colors on your blog as well. ❤
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I don’t think it’s too pink and feel it is a soothing color. I’ve always used colors because I feel it sets the tone for my blog plus I have fun and feel creative. 💖
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Great. I’m not into pink but will try this for a bit. I know too much color makes it hard to read the print sometimes. ❤️
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Yes, getting the text to stand out can be tedious. Perhaps, a pale blue would look nice if your are not into pink.
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I’ll play with it some more. ❤️
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Hello Eugenia!
I am glad you like the form David and I created. You should give it a try and show us!
I agree, the background color is very nice!
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Hi, Cendrine! I will give it a try! 😉
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This is very interesting, sis. ❤
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Thanks. Cendrine likes creating new forms. It was great fun working with the photos. ❤️
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I always say that when I get more time, lol, I want to try the different forms of poetry. Someday, sis, someday. ❤
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I’m always up for private lessons. I’ll be glad to help you. ❤
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Yes! David and I love doing it. It’s a lot of fun to motivate other poets to create!
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Oh, I agree. It’s all about creating forms that others will enjoy as well. ❤
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Hope you add this to your growing collection 🙂
(For all of us that is). Reminds me a little bit of a hagia. I suppose you could put the verse on the image especially if the image is your own.
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Hello Jules,
You need two images for the Pareiku to be a pareiku. You could do a collage with both images and add the words in it, yes!
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I’m not that computer savvy yet. Maybe in the future I’ll figure that out. Thanks for the extra info.
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It’s not very hard. Canva is free and allows you to create collages and plenty of other things without having to pull your hair out. 😉
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This form is specifically from Auroras & Blossoms. I think Cendrine is looking for poets to submit to her site. ❤
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