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

Photo by Ashley Knedler on Unsplash

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.

© Susan Joy Clark 2021

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.