Poetry formats

This is a list of poetry formats in Toki Pona. It focuses mainly on original formats that have been proposed for and used in Toki Pona, but formats from other languages that are popular in Toki Pona poetry are also listed at the bottom.

Square poems

leko nimi

The archetypal leko nimi is a short poem written in sitelen pona consisting of an equal amount of lines and words per line forming a square. The poem can then be read both horizontally (usually left-to-right) and vertically (usually top-to-bottom). How strict these rules apply to a particular poem is up to the author.

In an informal emoji reaction poll in the ma pona pi toki pona Discord server, 19 respondents knew about the format already, while 52 were new to the format, and 8 reported having made one.

The following is a list of leko nimi poems:

• "soweli", "kasi lili", "pu ala", and "waso" by jan Ali (p. 12)
• Untitled by kule epiku Atawan
• "toki musi pi nasin tu" by jan Ke Tami (p. 12)
• "tomo moku" by jan Likipi
• "soweli moli" by u/Medium_Specialist622
• Untitled by waso Pini lon kulupu pi wawa sewi (Archived)

Letter squares

There are 39 possible letter squares with each line and each row being exactly one word, using words from Linku (with 2022 data).

Syllable squares

There are 335 possible syllable squares with each line and each row being exactly one word, and an additional 91 squares if coda -n gets counted separately (moraically), using words from Linku (with 2022 data).

The following is a list of syllable square poems:

• "kiwen lukin" by jan Kuleku Nena (p. 13)
• A rectangular variation: leko nimi suli nanpa wan pi toki pona by jan Pensamin

Other original formats

Juxtapoem

A Juxtapoem (in Toki Pona toki musi jasima or toki musi pi ijo ante tu) is a format invented my jan Mali. They presented it during suno pi toki pona 2021 and invited viewers to use it to write their own poems, which were read aloud on stream. The format involves describing a contrast between two different things.

The format:

(ijo #1) li ___
li ______.
mi ___ ona
la ______.

taso, (ijo #2) li lon/kama.
(ijo #2) ___.
ona li ___ (ijo #1)
la ______.

For more explanation and examples, see the recording of the first or second suno pi toki pona presentation on YouTube.

Popular formats from other languages

Haiku

Haiku is a short poetry format originating from Japan, usually consisting of three phrases composed of 17 moras in a 5-7-5 pattern. In Western languages, it is common to count syllables instead of moras. Haiku do not normally have rhyme or meter. In Toki Pona, moraic haiku (where the coda -n is counted separately) and syllabic haiku (where coda -n is not counted) both exist.

Some examples of Toki Pona haiku:

• toki Haiku kepeken toki pona by Michael F (11 syllabic haiku, pre-pu)

Traditional features of Japanese haiku

Beside the 5-7-5 structure, requirements for Japanese haiku traditionally include a "cutting word" and a "seasonal word". Haiku are often, but not necessarily, about nature.

A "seasonal word" (Japanese: 季語 kigo) is a word that has a cultural association with one of the four seasons, indicating in which part of the year the poem takes place. See "List of kigo" on Wikipedia for a list of examples. Some poets believe that it is more important that the poem conveys the atmosphere of a season than that it includes a specific seasonal word. Other poets also write "seasonless" haiku.

"Cutting words" (Japanese: 切れ字 kireji) are a group of Japanese particles and verb endings that mark a break in the poem. They are typically placed at the end of the first or second phrase to cut the poem into two sections (5-7 and 5, or 5 and 7-5), indicating that the verse consists of two thoughts half independent of each other. The poet Fukumoto Ichirō claims that a haiku is most interesting when these two thoughts are very far removed from each other but still have a thin connection. Use of cutting words is in decline in Japan, and the two-section structure can also be implied without a cutting word. The strongest candidate for a cutting word in Toki Pona would likely be a, with other options being kin and la.

Closely related formats

Haiku originate from the classical Japanese renga format which, like the modern tanka format, is composed of a 5-7-5 section followed by a 7-7 section.

Senryū is another 5-7-5 format which otherwise shares none of the haiku's features listed above.