syllabic poetry – Susan Joy Clark

Creative Life, Poetry

Orchids, #dVerse Poetics, #double etheree

Photo I took at New York Botanical Gardens in 2009

orchid

intrigues me,

with its beauty

and its simple grace,

varied varieties,

speckled or veined with color,

rare types, popping color contrasts,

ruffled or smooth, they’re shapeshifting things,

I begin to understand Nero Wolfe

and his fascination with orchids

or the hold they have with smugglers.

they are mimics in disguise,

as monkeys or dancers,

ducks, egrets or bees.

under greenhouse

glass they thrive,

beauty

blooms.

This was written a little late for the dVerse Poetics challenge, in which we were challenged to write a poem with a gardening theme. I was not too inspired yesterday, suffering from a post Covid shot migraine. I decided to write about orchids which I have grown to love, beginning with some visits to public gardens such as the New York Botanical Gardens. This is a double etheree, with the following syllable count pattern, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

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

Overflowing, #Tanka Tuesday, #Arkquain Swirl

My only photo of family dining on the Fourth didn’t turn out so well in the original,
so I tried out a few artsy filters.

gather

as a group,

our family.

we are eleven.

though we are missing a few,

we celebrate as we do,

with food, love and fun.

table is full

to the brim,

homemade

love,

filling

our tummies,

filling our hearts.

eleven members

of our now extended clan,

with two dogs joining the span,

adding to the love.

we talk and play,

as one team,

puzzling

and

planning,

uniting

all our talents.

our cup runs over,

and, likewise, our dinner plate

shares with the cup, the same fate,

from work of different hands.

our love and faith

together

will bind

us.

This was written for Colleen M. Chesebro’s Tanka Tuesday challenge. This week it’s poet’s choice, but Colleen pointed out a list of syllabic poetry forms at Poets’ Collective.

I went to the link at Poets’ Collective and tried an arkquain swirl, a different syllabic poetry form than I have tried before. An arkquain swirl has this syllable count pattern — 1234~5775~4321234~5775~4321234~5775~4321. It also has end rhymes on the seven syllable lines.

I was inspired by my recent July 4th celebration with family, which included a few family members I haven’t seen in quite a while. Our celebration was characterized by lots and lots of food, and playing a game which, just as the poem suggests, had us helping one another rather than opposing one another.

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

Culinary Discoveries, #Tanka Tuesday, #Choka, #Tanka

each week, new produce

delivered to our doorstep,

sometimes strange, foreign:

watermelon radishes,

Hakurei turnips,

bok choy, purple bell peppers,

garlic scapes, (the shoots

that grow out of garlic bulbs.)

we prepare them healthfully.

exotic thai tastes,

fish sauce, soy sauce and garlic,

thai chile paste,

cooked with beef and piled on rice,

topped with egg and sriracha

This was written for this week’s Tanka Tuesday challenge, hosted by Colleen M. Chesebro. This week’s theme was Disoveries, and I chose to write about food discoveries and wrote both a choka and tanka.

We have joined a CSA, and that has introduced us to some new produce that is not normally found in grocery stores — sometimes just a new variety of something familiar, like the purple bell peppers, or something somewhat familiar that I wasn’t in the habit of buying, like the bok choy. Actually, bok choy was one of the main components in the recipe, found here, that I featured in the tanka. The syllable count made it hard to include it, and I wanted to emphasize the foreign Thai flavorings. I’ve made it two or three times now, so it’s recommended.