A sonnet about Psyduck by ChatGPT

Today, just for the fun of it, I ask ChatGPT to write me "a sonnet on my favourite pokemon, Psyduck", because I am bad at writing sonnets. Before I have finished typing "yellow ducky", it churns out a 14-line poem. And seriously, it is not too bad.

My question is, are poets going out of a job?

photo by dsnake1



A sonnet about Psyduck by ChatGPT


Oh Psyduck, with your head always aching,
Your vacant stare and your constant confusion,
You waddle around, forever shaking,
A cute and quirky pocket monster fusion.

Your psychic powers are quite impressive,
But they're hard to control, I must confess,
Sometimes you seem almost obsessive,
Your head in a perpetual distress.

Despite your flaws, you're loved by many,
Your charm and innocence win hearts each day,
And though you're often seen as quite zany,
Your loyal fans will always come and stay.

So here's to you, dear Psyduck, our friend,
May your headaches and woes soon come to an end.



by ChatGPT

04/05/2023
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To answer my question, no, AI is not going to take over our jobs soon. Not yet. I asked it to write a poem about a bad day, Bukowski style. It comes out all textbook rhymes. Bukowski don't rhyme. Bukowski writes in short breaths. He cusses. AI does a decent job in rhyming. But in imagery, in emotions, in forms and tools, it has much to learn. I bet it does not know of line breaks (shall I try it on them?). But the thing is, machines learn very fast. We may see a free verse from them very soon.

My hands are sweating...

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Ghost in The Shell - "Birth of An Android"

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023

minus one

This was a challenge on Day 2 of SingPoWriMo 2023 (Singapore Poetry Writing Month). It was to write a "liwuli". A what? Okay, description below.

photo by Samuel Ramos at Unsplash



minus one


It should not be this way of course, a hard cookie crumbling. It is unfair for both of us. And chemo is not cheap either.

It is now a night of waiting
quick footsteps
cold coffee.

Have you seen tracers firing into the night sky, are they like red ribbons?



02/04/2023
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A liwuli is a poetic form deriving from South East Asian rhetorical traditions. It consists of 3 stanzas:

• the first stanza contains exactly 31 syllables in the form of a prose poem, and should be phrased entirely in terms of instructions.
• the second stanza consists of 14 syllables, and is broken into 3 lines (the length of each line is up to the writer as long as its 14 syllables).
• the third stanza consists of 19 syllables, broken into as many lines you want. the third stanza should be phrased entirely in terms of questions.

When properly executed, it is a very beautiful form.

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The Strawbs - The Winter Long

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023

sijo - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse : Death

The Pale Horse.

image by dsnake1,
generated on a game console with SoulCalibur V



sijo - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse : Death


ah, is there a chill down your spine
and no words escape of your mouth?

wrap in my dark shroud then and
lower thyself into the stygian waters.

no one sees me and expects to return,
take this as a new journey.


2014
****


SoulCalibur V is a copyrighted video game published by Namco Bandai Games.

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Strawbs - New World

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023

sijo - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse : Famine

The Black Horse.

image by dsnake1,
generated on a game console with SoulCalibur V



sijo - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse : Famine



the ones with the means have so foolishly feed me
but i cannot get fat

instead the bellies of the children are bloated
their ribs poked at skin

eyes blank as wasteland their spirits cracked
as the ground at their feet.


2014
****


SoulCalibur V is a copyrighted video game published by Namco Bandai Games.

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As many as 828 million people were affected by hunger in 2021.
- UN WHO Report

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023

sijo - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse : War

The Red Horse.

image by dsnake1,
generated on a game console with SoulCalibur V



sijo - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse : War


you ask how many battles i have fought?
Masada, Nagashino, Inchon

soon the names will mean nothing,
it is all senseless slaughter

weary will be me, my blood-stained blade
goes to another battle.


2014
****

SoulCalibur V is a copyrighted video game published by Namco Bandai Games.

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Ride of the Valkyries (Apocalypse Now version)

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023

sijo - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse : Pestilence

The White Horse.

image by dsnake1
generated on game console with SoulCalibur V



sijo - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse : Pestilence


they know me by many names
but i only want them to know fear

for the gifts my minions bring
burn like fire, multiple like locusts

what is the black plague then
when i have new terrors to unleash?


2014
****


SoulCalibur V is a copyrighted video game published by Namco Bandai Games.

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BAND-MAID - The Dragon Cries

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023

poetry lesson #14

Rosemary at Poets and Storytellers United would like us to write about writing: either write a poem about writing poetry, or tell us a story about story-telling. 😀

collage and photo by dsnake1



poetry lesson #14


I wanted to write a poem about
the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Night turns to day and the four
horsemen are nowhere to be found.

So i look at the video game machine
and it is pleading to be switched on.

Days turn to weeks and there are
still no signs of the four horsemen.

I know it is an old game but if
you are poor, old games are still fun.

So my characters are marching through
the game like demi gods, invincible.

They are beautiful and strong, their
godly blades felling enemies like weeds.

It is Pestilence and Famine and War and Death,
whatever name at the moment.

And then I remember I am supposed
to write a poem, about some horsemen.

So in the end I have four sijos instead,
the four horsemen have assembled.

It is hard to explain how I got there,
I know, a very poor, lousy poetry lesson.

Would you like to see the poems instead?



07/04/2023
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Read my poem? Why don't you click the below link and hear someone read Charles Bukowski's The Crunch?

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People Aren't Good (The Crunch by Charles Bukowski)

All three versions of The Crunch by Charles Bukowski.

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023