Poems and Origami
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Shape on shape and fold on fold
Creates a world from simple mould.
In what emerges my eye can see
Bird or Beast or Geometry.
...John Smith
Poets have written poems about origami and artists have folded origami
models to illustrate poems. It just seems that origami and poetry go
together. Japanese people love poetry and have handed down poems as well as
origami models. On this page you will find poems that we wrote ourselves as well as those written
by other origamists. We hope that these poems will inspire you to not only
fold origami models, but also to write your own poems.
We would like for
you to Submit us your poems so that we can display them on this page with your name, age, and school.
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Change by Callie
When you see a beautiful butterfly,
Fluttering in the air so high,
You don't remember its history.
Its caterpillar days to you are a mystery.
It once crawled on the ground,
Not knowing where it was bound.
When it made its cocoon,
It knew not it would be flying soon.
It slowly emerged with gorgeous wings,
Very much glory did this cocoon bring.
You transform the paper you fold,
From a flat sheet to glory untold.
You can create a butterfly,
A teddy bear, or a big bowtie.
All of this from a simple page,
Most designs have changed with age.
You see paper as one little sheet,
And in a heartbeat,
You've refined this technique
To create a design so unique.
Ashley's
Diamonte
Paper
Squares, Rectangles
Folding, Bending, Creasing
Scraps, Sheets, Cranes, Butterflies
Intriguing, Challenging, Fascinating
Japanese, Ancient
Origami
Diamonte Guideline
Leaping Frog
(Haiku)
A paper frog jumps
Trying to win the contest
Leaping high and far.
by Jonathan
A
cinquain by Andy
Crane
intricate, unique
fold, crease, create
Sending message of hope.
Peace
Origami
fun, interesting
fold, form, crease
Symbolizes the Japanese custom.
Art
by Jessica
Origami
creative, fun
creasing, folding, bending
I love folding paper.
Crane
by Kimberly
Origami
frustrating, tricky
fold, bend, overlap
Origami is very fun.
Creases
by Kelsey
Crane
fun, difficult
hope, soars, flies
They look real cool.
Origami
by Cody
Hope
faith, promise
trust, wish, desire
Trust the wish made.
Loyalty
by Randi
Paper by Tanner
There was this square piece of paper.
I was just folding and doing other stuff
And this paper was really kinda rough.
I folded it forward.
I folded it back.
My teacher said, "put it on the stack!"
I folded lots more
And it looked really poor.
But it finally turned into a crane
Although it kinda looked like an airplane
That flapped and flapped.
It was fun folding on my lap!
Honorable Mention in Writer's Fair, VMS 1999
The following poems were written by John Smith,
a modern origamist and poet
Fujimoto's Cube
I sit and look at you my friend,
and marvel at your being.
From one perfection to another.
From the anonymity and illusion of the plane,
to the reality of the cube.
Yet the two are one;
it is time and space that have changed.
I sit and look at you, my friend,
and wonder at your perfection
All is needed, nothing is wasted.
And what a journey from one perfection to another!
An instant of magic when anonymity changes to reality.
When the plane becomes a cube,
When nothingness becomes reality,
with shape and space and meaning
Here is the mystery of our art.
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To David Brill's Horse
But this is a horse,
This thing of paper plain.
For these folds form
The sinews of a stallion,
A wild free living beast.
Thus can life shine through
The constraints of our art.
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Akira's Children
His hands reach out in greeting as they come
Love seeks each one.
One hand claps in soundless silence
Two hands clap, a world awakens
Heartbeats as one.
Hands dance with paper and the life begins to stir
A
butterfly appears, then a host fluttering to the sun
And all is one.
Akira's Children.
To Origami
What gentle art to confine
By plane of paper - folded line.
What magic here to capture me,
In infinite variety.
Shape on shape and fold on fold
Creates a world from simple mould.
In what emerges my eye can see
Bird or Beast or Geometry.
The art's not in the form thats won
alone, but also in the journey done.
Through plane of paper and folded line
A glimpse of eternity is mine.
What gentle art to confine
By plane of paper - folded line.
What magic here to capture me,
In infinite variety.
The Heart As Origami by Jane Hirschfield
Each one has its shape.
For love, two sleeping ducks.
For selfless courage, the war horse.
For fear of death, the daylily's one-day flower.
More and more creased each year, worn paper thin,
and still it longs for them all.
Not one of the lives of this world the heart does not choose.
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