Ukiyo-e print by Ryusai Shegeharu. (1830)
The majority of poetry is written in solitary contemplation, or as our friend William Wordsworth would say “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” However, poets are playful social beings too and some of the greatest works of literature have been born out of co-writing or collaboration in various forms.
ToPoJo loves teaming up with musicians and artists of all kinds for every volume and event. We highly value collaboration, our journal is a testament to that. ToPoJo editor Taylor Mignon has co-written several poems with fellow ToPoJo editors and poets from the Tokyo poetry scene in the last few years. Here are six poems selected by Mignon himself.
Let’s Play Kafka
By Ray Craig & T Mignon
let's play Kafka
you go first
Misuto sauna de seki shite, chichai chinpira ni cho shikareru
aruite sanpun - suika taberu
places to receive futari no kaewa
Gion de kikoeru giongo wa goshi goshi dake ja ne zō
let's read between the tear
5 fit and flare chigitte taberu
Danchi ni andakaba (undercover)—no darake, no Visa
niatteru ne, sono chotto matte
wait, let’s hurry
dakara dattara
Kafka to omoikiri asobu
Noted that watakushi ga memo mada moratteinai, mo~, minna jiro jiro miruna! 👀
kankei nai kara sa
passengers complain, robins flock
zettai machigaetteru
Super sento no tansanburo (carbonated water bath) de shoujo to chichi pretend to eat food
about, as could
robins fade
passengers complain
Kafka ni aete ureshikute shikata ga nai
cho chinpira ga Kafka o sagashita kedo meiro ni maiyotta
datte sa, about is part
2 voices one page furi furi
You out yr left fish in....Eto eto desu ne hoki poki shake shake
blossoms complicate
ikinari togireru
puddles or Russian novels o kabatte
twisted, 3 miles
waiting for bus
reading Frank O’Hara
Flummoxed by lexical loquaciousness & lady hiney highness, back to English
mizugi ni ashi ga tsuite masune
ugoki nagara hayashi no naka
Tomimatsu, tattoo for Kafu
peg-top and blackbirds
Kotoba no avalanche ni natte, Kafka ha nagare no naka ni shindeiru
"Postcard from Kafka" by Ray Craig
buttered young, battered Jung & the yolo orgy
By Todd Silverstein & T Mignon
*listen with soundscape by David Severn
raw and rhyme’s rough fisticuffs, タン タン bomb
#power poof Tantan man babe buff nuf famalam i am
philtrums lapped, spent, splayed by tongue’s scrum
#then scrummage at garage sale of rubbage, ma’homage
but am who to emulate?
Ingrate unconcentrate baggage-agonista
#grape concentrate, fashion agonista, dudette, don’t die
on dat diet
too thin skinned to sin boyo—nape ape it, nyet
#yet slurping margarita, collective unconsciousness on
holiday forgets
better bet be better,
buttered young, battered Jung, air-iest ba-booms
#out primordial sludge, 31 offers a
cookie dough & fudge spoon
are hunger, our boil, テスラコイル, lightning's
#lam from the loom
fruit of the loom our doom a foil for whom
undoom the room, unwhom baboon, babble to boil
#Band Name Ideas have a hullabaloo over how to spell
hoola-balew
brand new to-do, pettigrew's crew,
triumphant, resplendent
#Izod Polo J-Crew Hollister Ab. & Fitch Am. Eagle unravel
@ logo orgy
cast off, wax on, come Mammon, Kink Kong, rise up!
cranekick armageddon!
#Chrome’s Helios Creed howls “Armageddon” & sneers
“I’m a gentleman”
then, whimpering, allows, "less shallow than bear"
#slap on that bass line! Fishman’s psych solo!
tap on that YOLO, riff as thunder, loose singularly
strumpets
#snappin hat emoji, sniffs asunder, caboose scrumptious
synch carpet
thwart-circuits madcap heart’s Sensoji, thumps profuse,
bumptious ’n pink
#yo Cap, ain’t got no Beef w/ yr Heart, peace bump
head butt
The collaboration poems below have been published in Tokyo Poetry Journal Volume 11: Tokyo City / Slice
O Glorious Galore!
by Matthew Zuckerman & T Mignon
Buck rolls & bucks flow, dragon digests, splurge of words regurge
It ate cream cheese with crushed strawberries, rustic pompadour swelling and opening
Deux delishier palette pleasure round two, dragster goatee, embedded r3
Wide eyed into the eyes of time and down down down
Thust hence, Freddie King gave birth to this ditty, wit-ness
Hide away and stumble on to San Ho Zay
No way! Yazohnas is like macarolli hosanna
To all the believers on the parsnip of glory
O glorious galore of a fast Las Vegas rolling die
David Severn, Morgan Fisher and Taylor Mignon. (2018)
Madam Kicker, for Masahiko S.
By David Severn & T Mignon
Hoochie coochie cinnabom, g n t no lime, table splinter in palm
Indigo n khaki reggaement blows an air on a g string
Red tubby n calico super duper pinch bassist rips show
eno n byrne-ing bush of ghosts up on deck loop loop
US is waiting & Boredoms lay down in Shimokita coin locker
Down the tracks, a station’s lights shine from ancient time
Down the flask & town’s neon turns to drizzle curve moments
Rain’s bow and arrows drozzle on while folk homego
Home slice left shag right duff gruffly among labyrinthian curbs
Achi kochi, m c escher-calators scuttle down to bedrock
April 19, 2019
Collapsing Chuhai
By Zoria Petkoska K. & T. Mignon
Train-strained to a speck, breathe in........ breathe out.......
Coughing fit fast forward to fist fight, ah, masks off
--
Gloves on. A spitting image of a broken mirror
Dukes down — each sputum a universe— chuhai kampai
achoo-hai, kanpai ippai, cheers to the cheerful, and then - silence
.................................................................................yes (small type)
......... No, silence not found. SILENCE is sold in slices here, a rare commodity, a foie gras of force-feeding me loneliness
Step up & git yr fresh slices of silences @ sidewalk sale, prices slashed
Not sold in vending machines - they're too LOUD
They vent via Vipassana, scream to whisper
blistered escalators conspire with elevators
The gaslighting of public transpo thru loopy cameo
Zoria and Taylor performing "Collapsing Chudai" at Topojo Volume 10 Launch, Yoyogi Park, July 2021. Photo by Simon Scott
電子連詩
Taylor Mignon and Jordan Smith
S/he it them us we ourselves benched the press for a thousand word pounds
The Mensch and the Benshi
Empty head deaded with
Bench-warmer nepenthe
Hachiko and Benji anthromorph pickin sanshin & banjo @ 9th inning stretch
Hamstrings tingling, ham-fisted rib-tickling
Loyal to a fault-line
With soil and plotline
Grew blue suede shoes
And a Fedora for the aura
Mr. Beau Shpongle, trance trance this ellipsis dingle dangle does dance
But doesn't do || pants ||
Not so into }{ clothing }{
=Raving= & =roving=
& cyber-punktuation
Himalayan monks kissing hunksss of defffflation
Thai fisherpeeps in Yoga pants do handplants {!} Sponsor Words::: Uniqlo w/Yayoi & Yokoo on the go....go ala Tones on Tail Go! Gap ゲップ {!} Zara: respectful, elegant cheapshit apparel....yay {!}
Underneath chic sheaths:: Zen-sheen Dots Mode = 全身脱毛de
bald ≠ spectacle, my hairless little delectable
Retractable-fact Writing Hood
Wolf ear headphones
Sinking in fangs
Blissing _]out[_ to the dead TONES
Never baloney nay say ever salami yay sushi ma’ omey ma’ dude irreveriblingblongitude exude a White Russian flush up, this humpty empty dumpty a nitty gritty dingalong singalong semi-dirty ditty
Truly gritty
Unruly itsy-bitsiness
Tiddly-winking titties
Slipping doubloons into gold tipsiness
ENTER POLITICS ...
Okay, now EXIT POLITICS ...
In out in out, coitus interruptus, revolutate responsibly anarchate yr ass & yr blinding 3rd "I" will be bound to see see, you statue girl, wicker boy, the other others you & me flee yr mind @ land mine field free
Refills, recaps: Buddhist moonshine
Sex in an election year
Sex with an erection clearly
Wrecked in the electric chair:
Redirected to greener pastures,
It was downright awkward:
Offered the black handshake
Then Slaughtered by the imposters