Five lines.
Two voices.
One turning truth.

Anasa Poems are a distinctive African poetic form, rooted in call-and-response storytelling, yet designed to carry wisdom across cultures and borders.

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How Anasa Poems Were Created

Anasa Poems were created by Roy T. Machamire after his long poem "Names Written in Smoke and Gold, and Carved in Storms" revealed the need for a form both brief and profound. Too expansive for haiku, Africa's stories found a new vessel: the Anasa poem-five lines carrying dialogue, revelation, and memory. Rooted in African call and response yet universal in reach, Anasa speaks across cultures and stands as a global legacy where history speaks, memory answers, and the world listens.

The Form

Structure

Lines 1-2: Set the scene or introduce an idea
Lines 3-4: Create a call-and-response dialogue
Line 5: Deliver a reflection or turning truth

Philosophy

Born from African oral tradition, the Anasa removes haiku's syllable constraints while preserving poetry's essential clarity, brevity, and memorable impact.

Collection

Family Puzzle

Universal

On belonging and acceptance within family bonds

Family is a puzzle, pieces scattered everywhere. Where do I belong? Right here, always with us. Even broken pieces deserve a place.

Desert Path

Journey

Following stars when earthly paths disappear

The sand swallows my footprints, wind singing in my ears. Where are you going? Where the stars lead me. Every journey begins in silence.

Market Basket

Generosity

The natural impulse toward sharing abundance

My basket overflows with mangoes, sweet gold in the afternoon sun. Who are you feeding? Whoever is hungry. Full hands are meant for sharing.

Rain Over Soweto

Hope

Hope falling like rain in difficult times

Rain dances on tin roofs, turning dust into the smell of earth. Will the drought end soon? The sky is trying, child. Hope often falls one drop at a time.

Phoenix in the Stars

Resilience

America's capacity to rise after crisis

Ashes gather where towers once stood. Still, the flag waves hotter than the flame. How do you rise after so much loss? By teaching scars to become ladders. America burns, then writes its story in smoke that sings.

Bethune's Keys

Education

For Mary McLeod Bethune, educator and activist

A pocket jingled with keys not meant for her. She built doors where walls were meant to stand. Why teach when the world resists your lessons? Because ignorance builds faster than prisons. Every alphabet is a ladder waiting to be climbed.

Ephemeral Blossoms

Sakura

Sakura season and the brevity of beauty

Petals drift across temple steps, spring perfumes the morning air. Will you return next year? Only if you remember me. Beauty is a lesson in goodbye.

Zen Garden Whispers

Meditation

Raked gravel and the art of seeing

Ridges curl around a single rock, moss holds the cool of shade. What moves here? Only the seeing. Silence arranges the mind.

Kintsugi Promise

Repair

Mending with gold as philosophy of healing

Porcelain waits on the mat, gold stitches find the cracks. Is it ruined? It is revealed. Scars learn to shine.

Silent Snowfall

Winter

Snow hushing the world into reflection

White breath covers empty streets, rooftops hold their gentle weight. Who will speak tonight? The snow will. Stillness is a complete sentence.

Moon-Viewing Party

Tsukimi

Gathering to admire the harvest moon

Lantern light trembles on the pond, cups of warm tea steady our hands. Why watch the same moon again? Because it changes us. Old light makes new hearts.

Festival of Colors

Holi

Joy dissolving barriers through color

Powder leaps into noon light, laughter paints the lanes alive. Why smear my face? So I can know yours. Color is a shortcut to kinship.

Sacred River's Lament

Ganges

Holiness and harm entwined

Pilgrims sing along my banks, bottles snag against my reeds. Do you forgive us? When you cleanse me. A prayer should leave water clear.

Banyan Tree Oracles

Wisdom

Generations gathering under ancient shade

Aerial threads touch the earth, shadows gather like elders. What do you teach? Listen longer. Wisdom has a patient voice.

Spices of Memory

Heritage

How scent carries us home across time

A brass tin clicks open, air warms with old kitchens. What does this smell like? Home arriving. Flavor is a time machine.

Lotus Rising

Purity

Grace blooming from struggle

Green cups lift the sun, mud clings but cannot rule. How do you stay bright? I choose upward. Purity is a direction.

Quiet Night Thoughts

Li Bai

Echo of Li Bai's moonlit homesickness

Silver spills across the floor, distance chills the pillow. Do you dream of home? Every night. Moonlight learns our names.

Yellow River Chronology

History

The river outlasting dynasties

Silt braids the wide current, drums once echoed on these banks. What remains of kings? The river's curve. Time edits every empire.

Willow by the Bridge

Loyalty

On faithful waiting and return

Green threads comb the slow river, boats nod beneath the arch. Will you wait? Through every wind. Faith learns the willow's posture.

Celestial Immortal's Journey

Mythology

Mythic ascent through heavens

Stairs of cloud rise from the peak, cranes guide the silent air. What lies above? What lies within. Heaven answers in mirrors.

Jade and Bamboo

Resilience

Nobility and strength paired

Bamboo sings in winter wind, jade remembers mountain shade. Which is truer? The one that yields. Kindness outlasts hardness.

Baobab Tree Grounding

Endurance

The tree that stores seasons in its trunk

Trunks hold thunder without fear, children learn letters on bark. What do you keep for us? Rain in my heart. Some elders store the season.

Ubuntu Embrace

Community

I am because we are

Arms weave a living circle, breath rises like one drum. Who carries who? We carry us. Together is the closest word to home.

Ancestral Drums

Lineage

Rhythm connecting generations

Goatskin tightens under fire, palms remember the pattern. Who taught you this? Footsteps in dust. Rhythm is a family tree.

Savanna Sunrise

Dawn

Morning as covenant of light

Grass shivers with first gold, giraffes script the horizon. What begins today? Everything again. Sunrise renews the oath.

Lion's Courage

Strength

Voice as power and presence

The chest opens like sunrise, breath claws the timid air. Should I be afraid? Speak first. A roar is a doorway.

Celtic Myth Breath

Ancient

Landscape as living memory

Mist braids the heathered hills, stones hum under wet moss. Who speaks here? The earth through us. Song is a map with a pulse.

Roman Columns

Architecture

Pillars as lessons in endurance

Stone keeps its measured silence, arches count the years by swallows. What holds the weight? What holds the line. Integrity is architecture.

Mozart's Rhythm

Music

Joy with precision as art

Steps skip then linger a beat, air lifts like a violin. Why move like this? Because it sings. Happiness keeps good time.

Venetian Flow

Grace

Canals and the art of letting go

Water scribbles under bridges, balconies lean to listen. Where are you going? Where the tide suggests. Surrender is an art.

Nordic Morning

Calm

Scandinavian dawn softness

Pines comb the pale light, lake glass barely breathes. Shall we rush? Not today. Calm builds durable fire.

Rosa's Seat Still Speaks

Civil Rights

Tribute to Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

The bus engine growled like an impatient judge. Rosa sat, her silence heavier than iron. Will they ever understand your quiet no? They will—when streets learn to walk without shame. One empty seat can make a whole country shift.

Harriet's Compass

Freedom

Reflection on Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad

Night carried the hymn of footsteps through swamps. The North Star burned like a promise in ink. How did you guide them without maps? With memory older than the master's law. Freedom's road is paved with breath that will not yield.

The River That Remembers

History

The Mississippi as witness to American struggle

The Mississippi carries blues and broken levees. Its waters hold songs older than the Republic. Do you still flow when the nation fractures? I braid the fragments until they find a delta. The river remembers what people try to forget.

Wings of the Unbroken Sky

Pride

The bald eagle as America's enduring symbol

The eagle rises over plains and city steel. Its shadow shelters both soldier and child. What gives you flight without rest? The wind of freedom carries me still. No storm can ground a nation with wings.

Why Anasa Poems Matter

Anasa poems succeed because they fulfill poetry's essential purpose: they touch the heart, sharpen the mind, and remain in memory.

Brevity with depth. Five lines create a complete arc—scene, dialogue, revelation. This compression makes them shareable while their emotional resonance makes them unforgettable.
Rooted yet universal. Born from African call-and-response tradition, the form adapts seamlessly across cultures. Cherry blossoms, sacred rivers, ancient bridges—the Anasa carries wisdom beyond borders.
Memorable truth. The final line often reads like proverb or koan: "Even broken pieces deserve a place." These phrases lodge in consciousness because they speak universal truths simply.
Cultural bridges. The form connects generations through shared recitation, cultures through adaptation, and emotions through its capacity to hold grief, joy, resistance, and hope in equal measure.

So why are Anasa poems good? Because they are short yet profound, African yet global, simple yet wise, rooted yet adaptable. They remind us that no matter where we are in the world, human beings still speak in call and response, still listen for echoes, still crave connection.

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