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Sunday Scribblings #122: Of Laughs and Sighs and Other Wonderful (?) Things

Life is made up of laughs and sighs and other wonderful plus not so wonderful things. But in the end, it – life, I mean – is what we make it.

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Notepad and a pen over it with a cup of coffee next to it. words read Sunday Scribblings, and this is for Sunday Scribblings #122: Of Laughs and Sighs and Other Wonderful (?) Things

Poetic Sundays: The Grook Poem (Grooks aka Laughs and Sighs)

So what is the connection between my post title and the Grook? Well, some people say that the word grook or gruk seems to be a combination of two words ‘GRin & sUK’ (“laugh & sigh”, in Danish), but the creator of this poem type – Piet Hein – said he felt that the word had come out of thin air. Anyways, I decided to use that possible origin of the name for my post.

It is always possible that the ‘thin air’ Piet referred to was some random connections his mind made between these two words! We all do that every so often, right?

Also, I was contemplating on how life is so really full of ups and downs, laughs and sighs, life and death, joys and sorrows, when this past weekend saw us waking up to the news of a cousin becoming a grandmom and the day ended with the news of another cousin’s mom’s succumbing to cancer. We welcomed one life and bid goodbye to another all in the matter of 24 hours in our family.

What is the Grook Poem?

The Grook poem is less a poetic form than an invention of Danish poet Piet Hein. He started publishing them in April 1940, shortly after the Nazi occupation, using the name Kumbel Kumbell. They appeared in a daily newspaper of the time, as a spirit-building coded form of passive resistance (source).

A grook is a short aphoristic poem, characterized by irony, paradox, brevity, satire, and more, and employing a precise use of language, often times rhyming. It can be humorous or heartfelt, can be serious or sweet, rhyming or not, and does not have any other rules that the writer needs to follow.

The Grook’s Characteristics

So the Grook’s elements are that it is:

  • aphoristic: an aphorism is defined as a pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
  • short: try to keep it as short as you can. The longest ones by Piet Hein I have read seem to be around eight lines.
  • often rhyming
  • often accompanied by a short related pencil/pen sketch in black and white
  • free of any other rule of rhythm or meter or syllabic count or etcs.

How to Write a Grook, or Something Between Laughs and Sighs

  • Read a lot of them (check out the examples in the links listed in the next section). They will surely inspire you to get started on writing your own.
  • Pick any topic that appeals – sociopolitical, economic issues, social media trends, people today, trends and mannerisms, well, just about anything – and see how you can come up with an aphorism for it.
  • Use the aphorism cleverly to write your grook!

I know, not really as detailed as you might have hoped, but reading and feeling is what will get those grooks coming!

h/t, References, and Further Reading

My Attempt at the Grook

I attempted it once before, here on this post. But today’s attempt is below (minus the sketch, which I hope to add later):

Not Always Silver
Fewer words would easily suffice
When our thoughts are not so nice.
Better yet, listen to these words wise –
“Silence is golden” – so profane and concise!
And on an aside –
Fewer words also easily suffice
When we feel less than wise!
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

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  • Literary birthdays this week include: Albert Camus, Sabaa Tahir, and Yuyi Morales on the 7th of November; Bram Stoker, Margaret Mitchell, Raja Rao, Lauren Oliver, and Kazuo Ishiguro on Nov 8th; Anne Sexton, Janet Fitch, and Carl Sagan on Nov 9th; Oliver Goldsmith, Caroline Kepnes, and Neil Gaiman on 10th Nov; Kurt Vonnegut, Carlos Fuentes, Abul Kalam Azad, and Fyodor Dostoevsky on Nov 11th; DeWitt Wallace on Nov 12th; Robert Louis Stevenson on the 13th of Nov
  • This week is the Fall Children’s Book Week
  • Nov 12th is National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day
  • International Tongue Twister Day – Second Sunday in November
  • It is National Book Award Week (Nov 7 – 13th)

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Other Celebrations and Observations

Wrapped Up: My Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. Will you be attempting to write the Grook? Or what were your laughs and sighs this week; or just one of them too? And, of course, do let me know if you plan to celebrate any of these mentioned celebrations this coming week/month?

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon.

8 thoughts on “Sunday Scribblings #122: Of Laughs and Sighs and Other Wonderful (?) Things

  1. I love these types of posts. It is great to sometimes have a look into what bloggers are thinking about or planning. Thank you for sharing.

  2. It’s true that not only good things but also bad things make up one’s life. However, it’s important to check that those things that make you frown and sigh don’t get the better part of your time. Life is too short for letting them run the show!

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