At Auroras & Blossoms, we love positive and inspirational poetry so much that we created a poetry form dedicated to it. We call it the Kindku!

What Is a Kindku?

The Kindku is an invitation to promote kindness, positivity and inspiration through poetry. As the last two letters of the name indicate, it is based on Japanese poetry forms like the haiku and tanka.

The Rules

The Kindku is a short poem of seven lines. The syllable pattern is 7 / 5 / 7 / 5 / 7 / 5 / 7 or 5 / 7 / 5 / 7 / 5 / 7 / 5.

The Kindku must include seven words that are taken from one specific source — a poem, a book, a newspaper article, etc. In the case of a book or long piece of writing, those words must come from the same page.

Words must be used in the order they were found. Their placement also depends on the line:

  • Line 1 starts with word 1
  • Line 2 ends with word 2
  • Line 3 starts with word 3
  • Line 4 ends with word 4
  • Line 5 starts with word 5
  • Line 6 ends with word 6
  • Line 7 starts or ends with word 7

Kindku poems can have titles and punctuation. No matter the topic covered, they must sport a positive tone.

Kindku poets are encouraged to credit and link to the inspirations behind their pieces.

Examples of Kindku

Art Writes Itself

Art writes itself in the heart
before other things;
intent lingers for a while
inviting practice,
lost hope to find a new map.
on this continent
you are the only master.

- Kindku inspired by Elizabeth Bishop's One Art

© 2020 Cendrine Marrouat
True Self Remains

Antique, old, not forgotten
Celebrate passions
Heart wants to be filled, always
True self will appear
Mighty are our selfless deeds
Happiness remains
Fear and doubt we chased away.

- Kindku inspired by Percy Bysshe Shelley's Ozymandias

© 2020 David Ellis

What’s next?

Write, write, write, and have fun!

Feel like trying another poetry form? Check out Cendrine’s Sixku!