—Poetry and Photos by Taylor Graham, Placerville, CA
—And scroll down to Form Fiddlers’ Friday!!
NO GRASSY FIELD?
This chilly morning,
the wild honkers rest at ease—
between painted lines
of supermarket parking
waiting for thanksgiven crumbs?
This chilly morning,
the wild honkers rest at ease—
between painted lines
of supermarket parking
waiting for thanksgiven crumbs?
LEAVING SCANT TRACE
The trees keep secrets to themselves
of ferns and nestlings, maybe elves,
of twig and leaf-fall,
and the thrush’s call;
mossy hall, rocky shelves—
while sleek as moonbeam or the doe’s
elusive print through shadowed rows
slips a silver car
as some wayward star
from a-far silent goes
and passes. And still the woods keep
their hold and fastness of the deep.
Each new fall, each spring
when the crown-birds sing
and bells ring waking sleep.
COVID THANKSGIVING
Setting our table:
2 dinner plates, knives, forks, spoons,
2 bowls on the floor—
just our homey little pod
you and me and dog and cat.
FIFTY YEARS OF SEEKING
How long before I
started counting? Let’s just say
I hopped a boxcar—
not a paying passenger—
on track to discover.
Is this truth or metaphor?
Plenty of time to
calculate particle by
particle my miles
of earthly doings and un-
doings, stuck on a
siding staring at headlights
on another track,
riding the moan of whistle
through the dark. Do I
confess to bungling moments,
unfulfilled wish-lists?
Vast landscapes passing me by.
What was it I found?
Thunder resounding pulse-like
in the heart, that rail-
rattling box traveling under
countless strikes of lightening.
FELINE WISH LIST
Tap-tap on my shoulder—my cat
craving attention, food or pets.
Mistress of unlatching wishes
she understands words, sentences,
and also the language of hands.
Mistress of unlatching wishes,
craving attention, food, or pets—
tap-tap on my shoulder. My cat.
XMAS 2020 WISH LIST
no Covid close to home—
in the grocery store, bulk foods back in their bins—
from the phone co., my voicemail access #—
license for my “new” car (stuck in Covid backlog)*
in 2021, a real live poetry reading—
wildfire season that isn’t all-year-long—
solitude, homey pleasures enduring past lockdown—
* license arrived before Christmas—giving thanks!
Today’s LittleNip:
QUIVER
—Taylor Graham
Target practice
across the way—
I find arrows
in our pasture, inside our gate.
Is it bad aim or on purpose
I find arrows?
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Our thanks to Taylor Graham for her poems and pix today, some being “list”-related for our recent Seed of the Week: Christmas List. Rummaging around through her forms today, we find a Clogyrnach (“Leaving Scant Trace”); a Choka (“Fifty Years of Seeking”–and yes, the last word is “lightening”, as “enlightening”); a Termelay (“Quiver”); an Octo (“Feline Wish List”); plus a List Poem, a Tanka and a Waka. I asked her about the word, “thanksgiven”, which I could find no reference for, and she mentioned a favorite teacher’s favorite word. I’m glad she had that straight; two of the words I most often find reversed are “lightning” and “lightening”. Well, I guess you could say they are indeed reversible: “It was enlightening like a bolt of lightning.” Never mind…
And now it’s time for…
FORM FIDDLERS’ FRIDAY!
Joyce Odam is with us again, this time with a lovely Rhyme Royal (Rime Royale); see www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/rhyme-royal-rime-royale/:
THE DECEMBER GULLS
—Joyce Odam, Sacramento, CA
We step outside and feel the first rain come
in soft gray slant and watch a first white gull
drift in on its soft glide—no loud wing-thrum.
We let this be the momentary lull
in our goodbyes. Our winter hearts are full
of love’s sad joy. A few more gulls appear.
We shiver for the ending of the year.
—Joyce Odam, Sacramento, CA
We step outside and feel the first rain come
in soft gray slant and watch a first white gull
drift in on its soft glide—no loud wing-thrum.
We let this be the momentary lull
in our goodbyes. Our winter hearts are full
of love’s sad joy. A few more gulls appear.
We shiver for the ending of the year.
On yesterday’s post, you may’ve noticed that Carol Louise Moon had three Sestinas and a Pantoum in her lovely collection. She also sent a Pentina, which I saved for today’s post. A Pentina is the same as a Sestina, using five repeated words at the end of the lines, except it has five lines per stanza instead of six. If you’re not familiar with the Sestina, refer to www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Sestina/. Here is Carol Louise’s Pentina (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentina):
PEREGRINE FALCON NEST
ON MORRO ROCK IN 1970’s
—Carol Louise Moon, Placerville, CA
We have come to the bay, to the rock
in all her glory. How many stories
tall is El Morro whose top floor houses
a peregrine pair still on honeymoon?
We’ve told these two, “Stay as long
as you like. Just be sure your long-
ing is for little peregrine chicks to rock
to sleep beneath a windy moon.
We, who love you, have heard stories
of how you need protection. Houses
aren’t for you, like aviary houses
for other birds. There’s a long, long
list of extinctions, like the Dodo story
we all know so well. And so, this rock,
a sanctuary… and so this moon.”
Outside our window the moon
shines full, as we sleep in beach houses
near to you two. We know the Rock
Of Ages now is smiling. The long
view through history and the stories
say that this preservation story
will be sure. We like to think the moon
is a proud witness of the long-
patience of biologists in their houses
of research. Now let’s read “Rock-
A-Bye-Baby” (a long story) by moon-
light in our house near your rock.
Caschwa (Carl Schwartz) was intrigued by Joyce’s Termelay last week, so he cooked up a Chain of ‘em:
FULL STOP
—Caschwa, Sacramento
can’t stand that talk?
interrupt it
stop it right there
and that extends to human life
if it does not support your dream
stop it right there
***
classroom is closed
switched to online
pay attention
there are no wrong answers today
you will be graded on progress
pay attention
***
worst, triple X
lewd images
samples are free
you can make up some rules for this
to suit your own moral compass
samples are free
FULL STOP
—Caschwa, Sacramento
can’t stand that talk?
interrupt it
stop it right there
and that extends to human life
if it does not support your dream
stop it right there
***
classroom is closed
switched to online
pay attention
there are no wrong answers today
you will be graded on progress
pay attention
***
worst, triple X
lewd images
samples are free
you can make up some rules for this
to suit your own moral compass
samples are free
Carl comes up with the dangedest subjects! Here is his Argonelle about string cheese:
STRING CHEESE
—Caschwa
better
to put in your mouth than
kites or even yoyo’s
it won’t knot or fall from the sky
popular choice, need not ask why
you’ll get more if you can
And an Alouette about Medusa's Seed of the Week: "Things you should be thankful for but are not…"
FREE COFFEE
—Caschwa
insufferable!
awful, terrible
big, black hole where stars once shined
left in waiting rooms
by witches on brooms
we said yes, should have declined
And this poem of Carl’s is a crazy-quilt of forms. He says, “Here I used a few different formats to give a different treatment to the same subject: the Tanka, Termelay, Tetractys, and Trois-par-Huit.” Such poetic prestidigitation! I like saying Trois-par-Huit (twa-par-wee).
By the way, I looked up the form, Crazy Quilt, and couldn't find any pre-existing poetry form by that name. Shall we say it's a new form, devised by Carl? Or perhaps a different name? What are the exact rules?
FALLING DOWN
—Caschwa
the leaves, along with
mercury level, descend
forcing my valet
to put out longer sleeves and
leggings to cover cold skin
***
we knew this would
happen again
like every year
so sorry to see summer go
welcome to cold and flu season
like every year
***
air
pressure
changes can
cause pain in joints
even when it is comfortably cool
***
touch my hand
doesn’t that feel cold and
frigid, like I’ve become a snowball?
awaiting your exit from the great dancing hall
innocent, peaceful, like a wee girl’s baby doll
soon I will rise and knock off your crown
you’ll lose your sweet renown
falling down
doesn’t that feel cold and
frigid, like I’ve become a snowball?
awaiting your exit from the great dancing hall
innocent, peaceful, like a wee girl’s baby doll
soon I will rise and knock off your crown
you’ll lose your sweet renown
falling down
Many thanks to our SnakePals for their brave fiddling! Would you like to be a SnakePal? All you have to do is send poetry—forms or not—and/or photos and artwork to kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post work from all over the world, including that which was previously-published. Just remember: the snakes of Medusa are always hungry!
_____________________
FIDDLERS’ CHALLENGE!
_____________________
FIDDLERS’ CHALLENGE!
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MEDUSA’S FORM FINDER: Links to poetry forms mentioned today:
•••Argonelle: poeticsonline.com/glossary/argonelles
•••Choka: poetscollective.org/poetryforms/choka OR poetscollective.org/poetryforms/choka
•••Clogyrnach: www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/clogyrnach-poetic-form
•••List Poem: clpe.org.uk/poetryline/poeticforms/list-poem
•••Octo: poetscollective.org/poetryforms/octo
•••Pentina: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentina
•••Rhyme Royal: www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/rhyme-royal-rime-royale
•••Sestina: www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Sestina
•••Tanka: poets.org/glossary/tanka
•••Termelay: poetscollective.org/poetryforms/termelay
•••Tetractys: www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/tetractys.html
•••Trois-par-Huit: www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/troisparhuit.html
•••Waka: poetscollective.org/poetryforms/waka
______________________
—Medusa
—Public Domain Photo
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clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
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sleeping off Thanksgiving!
