If you follow James May on Instagram, you can find him @jamesmaybloke if you don't, you will have seen photos from his current filming trip to Japan for the 'James May - Our Man in Japan' series.
May posted this photo of Mount Fuji reflected in a Kawasaki fuel tank earlier today with the caption 'Having a thoroughly Japanese day.' I really liked the photo and thought it was worth sharing here though I have no idea which model of Kawasaki this is, one of you might be able to tell me, please let me know in the comments if you do.
When I started 'The Literary Motorcycle' tribe in November 2016, right at the very start of Drivetribe, I wanted to get people to write some motorcycle related poetry. I started writing bike poems on Twitter, sometimes swapping them with May who's rather better at them than I am.
James 'Tennyson' May the poet (via Twitter)
Motorcycle literature has a long history, from TE Lawrence (Of Arabia) to modern tales of adventure travel by Lois Pryce, and it's not just prose that has a long history on the subject either, motorcycle and biker related poetry is now an established form with many books available.
I particulary like the Haiku form as the rules help me a lot, I freely admit I'm not a very good poet and having the haiku rules to stick to helps me to produce something better than I otherwise would. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it 'Haiku' is a traditional form of Japanese poetry. Haiku poems consist of 3 lines, the first and last lines of a Haiku have 5 syllables and the middle line has 7 syllables, the lines rarely rhyme, but it is allowable.
Here's another example by James May from Twitter which will give you the idea.
James May the poet (via Twitter)
Haiku about bikes have become known as baiku, playing on the two words. It was Betty McLaughlin, a member of this tribe, who first brought that term to my attention.
May at a Japanese penis festival (yes really) last week (Image via Chino Manding Caddarao on Facebook)
This is one of my haiku/baiku written a couple of years ago:-
'Honda shine reflects
Eager faced rider dismayed
Carb and hoped furred up'
Reflecting on the poetry of motorcycles
And here's my - probably feeble - effort inspired by this morning's photo
Kawasaki chrome,
Reflecting Mount Fuji view
Is this really work?
Early American biker poetry often discussed loneliness or the camaraderie found with other bikers, motorcycle maintenance, though not necessairly Zen, and other issues which were often found in the biker community. No need to take it too seriously though, just have a go!
Reflection of Mount Fuji in a Kawasaki fuel tank (Image @jamesmaybloke on Instagram)
So go on, does James's photo inspire anyone to poetry, or have you got an epic verse about a Honda that you're brave enough to share? Let's hear some if you do, post them in the comments, don't worry if you think it's bad it could never be as bad as mine!
Here's the link to May's instagram post
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Comments (10)
Mt Fuji gleaming
Freedom oh my heart yearns
Paradise take me
That’s a good one Karen.
Thanks dear 🙂
Not a Haiku but I hope someone likes it. Wrote it one winters day a couple of years ago.
Winter Gift
Open the door
Step outside
Warmth in the air
How about a ride?
1st of February
Just a few days past
Take advantage of the sun
You know it won't last.
Jeans, sweatshirt,
arm socks, books, and gloves.
Riding suit overall
Helmet tops it off.
Push the bike out and crank it over.
Tender did its job, it starts just fine.
Check the air and the lights.
Gas is needed, but not far to find.
Out of the drive
and down the road.
Willie plays in my head
It feels good again.
Careful now
Skills are rusty
Tires are cold
The roads are dusty
Just a short ride
tp shake of the blues.
To begin to live again.
Like breathing, a must.
A few curves taken carefully
A few straights taken forcefully
The sun already setting
The day already waning
Return to the base
Dinner is waiting.
Hot coffee and soup
the table is laden.
Soon the sun will be warmer
and the days will be longer
and I will linger
over thoughts of winter.
And the gift that I received.
Thanks Patrick, I like it, very evocative.
give us a verse? Go on #challenge
Motorbikes aren't great
I'm not interested in them
Haiku is fun.
Haiku are fun, thanks Kiran!