nature poetry – Susan Joy Clark

Creative Life, Poetry

A Tangle of Verdure, #Tanka Tuesday, #Butterfly Cinquain

my roof

is a tangle

of assorted verdure,

twisting branches woven, forming

an arch,

like the nave of a cathedral.

bright leaves and Spanish moss

gracefully sway

above.

This was written for Colleen Chesebro’s Tanka Tuesday challenge. She asked us to write a syllabic poem with synonyms for “green” and “morass.” I chose to write a butterfly cinquain. The Poets Collective defines a butterfly cinquain this way: “An unrhymed 9 line poem. syllabic, 2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2 syllables per line.”

I’m feeling super lousy today after my second Covid shot. I’m glad my migraine brain could still come up with poetry, though I decided I didn’t want to bother with rhyme today. 😛 Thinking about the chosen words and synonyms, I thought about Spanish moss and remembered hiking under trees like this while visiting Virginia. Unfortunately, my poor dad was a feast for chiggers that day, but the trees were beautiful.

Creative Life, Poetry

Midsummer Tanka Trifecta, #Haikai Challenge

the rain spritzes down,

leaving drops on lily leaves,

showering the plants,

providing wet nourishment,

shifting from spritz to downpour.

the strawberry moon

hovers majestically,

a giant pink orb

gleaming roseate brightness

in a purple-gray sky.

in her bright glory,

she looms peculiarly large

as seen just above

the ancient Acropolis,

seeming out of proportion.

sun glares light and heat

as moisture drips down my back,

car is now sauna,

dogs lie outside unmoving,

sidewalk is now frying pan.

This is a response to Frank J. Tassone’s haikai challenge, where we were challenged to write a haikai poem of our choice on one of three possible themes or a combination: midsummer rain, strawberry supermoon or smoldering heat. Perhaps, I did too much, but I wrote three tanka poems and one of them is a double tanka.

Creative Life, Poetry

Outside My Window, #Double Ennead

This month, for Carrot Ranch Literary Community, Colleen M. Chesebro challenges us to write a double ennead poem on a topic of our choice in 99 syllables, then reduce to a 48 syllable form, then 24 syllables and finally to a 12 syllable haiku. Here is my entry.

Double ennead form, 99 syllables

clouds like spun sugar in

periwinkle sky,

a tree’s outline in shadow in sunny grass,

white butterflies flying

above rose bushes.

golden yellow lilies

peeking out among

all of the green foliage in the garden,

red Japanese maple

branches wave gently.

a little brown sparrow

hops about in grass,

then flutters over to perch on the fence,

these are the sights I see

outside my window.

48 syllables, 4-7-5 stanza trio

spun sugar clouds

in a periwinkle sky,

butterflies flying.

yellow gold lilies

among the green foliage,

red maple branches,

small brown sparrow

flutters to perch on the fence,

outside my window.

24 syllables, (6-6-6-6,) 1 stanza

spun sugar clouds

in periwinkle sky,

butterflies and lilies,

sights outside my window

12 syllable haiku, short-long-short

spun sugar clouds

above white butterflies

and gold lilies.

Creative Life, Poetry

Goldfinch, #Haiku

a bird’s serenade

from among the coneflowers,

trills out for his mate.

This haiku was written for Ronovan Writes haiku challenge in which he asks us to use synonyms of song and chirp.

The bird in the photo is the American Goldfinch, which is, by the way, the state bird in New Jersey where I live. I remember learning that fact in grade school. Years later, I saw a lot of these colorful birds at my dad’s bird feeders which he filled with nigel seed, a favorite with finches. Dad no longer keeps up with the bird feeding, but I still spotted a goldfinch this season in the shrubbery.

Just for fun, here is the soundtrack of a goldfinch’s song.

Creative Life, Poetry

Waves, #Trimeric

Waves roll into shore,

Stirring up cool, white foam,

Then recede back into the ocean

To hit the shore once more.

Stirring up cool, white foam,

Frothing milky white,

Trailing bubbles across the sand.

Then recede back into the ocean,

Like bathwater flowing down the drain,

As sands shift underfoot.

To roll into shore once more,

Rolling, gathering momentum from afar

Impacting the shore with its power.

This was written for dVerse’s trimeric poetry challenge. Their page defines the trimeric form this way:

1. Trimeric has 4 stanzas
2. The first stanza has 4 lines
3. The other three stanzas have 3 lines each
4. The first line of each stanza is a refrain of the corresponding line in the first stanza (so 2nd stanza starts with the second line, third stanza starts with the third line, etc.).
5. The sequence of lines, then, is abcd, b – -, c – -, d – -.

Here is a little background behind my creative process for this one. I wasn’t sure of a subject at first, so I thought I’d do my own “photo prompt” and perused unsplash.com for a photo I liked. I selected the ocean pic above. As I thought about it, I realized the form really suited the subject of waves, as the repetitions seemed to suit that in and out feeling.