Whiptail: Journal of the Single-line Poem
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    • Issue 3: Into Oneness (May 2022) >
      • Issue 3 Cover Artist - Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad
      • Issue 3 - yet purple dahlias
      • Issue 3 - light's thesaurus
      • Issue 3 - slippingthrough
      • Issue 3 - inside the wind
      • Issue 3 - funeral sky
      • Issue 3 - small wins
      • Issue 3 - Jonathan's Picks
      • Issue 3 - Pippa's Picks
    • Issue 2: Summoning the Sky (Feb 2022) >
      • Issue 2 Cover Artist - our thomas
    • Issue 1: Kinetic (Nov 2021) >
      • Issue 1 Cover Artist - Subhashini Chandramani
      • Issue 1 Spring
      • Issue 1 Summer
      • Issue 1 Autumn
      • Issue 1 Winter
      • Issue 1 Transitions
      • Issue 1 Sequences
      • Issue 1 Letter from the Editors


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What is single-line poetry and what do we publish?

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English-language haiku, tanka, and other short poems often have line breaks that create tercets, quatrains, quintets, or other line configurations. Japanese haiku, however, are often printed in a column to create a vertical single-line poem. The poem of a single line is not a new technique, but a traditional presentation of haiku made new again in English.

Unlike poetry with line breaks, single-line poetry does not rely on physical enjambment to enhance the meaning of the poem. As such, one-line poetry can have more than one break in syntax to create multiple meanings. Single-line poetry can be a slippery lizard or a long-necked swan. 
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The single-line poetry published in Whiptail includes monostich haiku, one-line tanka, poetic fragments, and one-line micropoems. The poems can be one word in length up to a column’s width, written horizontally, vertically, or as a concrete poem in any shape a line may take. When used, punctuation should be purposeful. No titles, please. We also publish haiga, shahai, taiga, and vispo that employ a one-line poem.


What is NOT single-line poetry?

Single-line poetry is not a sentence of prose. Single-line poetry is not a multi-line poem placed onto one line. The form should serve a purpose in the delivery of the poem.


Resources:

"Monoku: An Experiment with Minimalism in Haiku Literature" by Pravat Kumar Padhy

"From One-line Poems to One-line Haiku Part One: The Invitation" by William J. Higginson

"Travelling the single line of haiku" by Alan Summers
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"Line" From A Poet’s Glossary by Edward Hirsch on poets.org
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"Hatching a Kinetic Sculpture" & "Into the Undefined," zipperku sequences by GRIX and Kat Lehmann

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ISSN 2769-5263
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 runs on coffee and passion. We don't charge submission fees because we don't believe in limiting whose voices get heard. If you like what we do, please consider a small donation to help with website costs.
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  • Home
  • Info
    • About
    • Submissions
    • Team
    • Contact
  • Lizard Lounge
    • Lizard Lounge - from the Issues
    • Lizard Lounge - Republished
  • Read the Journal
    • Issue 3: Into Oneness (May 2022) >
      • Issue 3 Cover Artist - Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad
      • Issue 3 - yet purple dahlias
      • Issue 3 - light's thesaurus
      • Issue 3 - slippingthrough
      • Issue 3 - inside the wind
      • Issue 3 - funeral sky
      • Issue 3 - small wins
      • Issue 3 - Jonathan's Picks
      • Issue 3 - Pippa's Picks
    • Issue 2: Summoning the Sky (Feb 2022) >
      • Issue 2 Cover Artist - our thomas
    • Issue 1: Kinetic (Nov 2021) >
      • Issue 1 Cover Artist - Subhashini Chandramani
      • Issue 1 Spring
      • Issue 1 Summer
      • Issue 1 Autumn
      • Issue 1 Winter
      • Issue 1 Transitions
      • Issue 1 Sequences
      • Issue 1 Letter from the Editors