—Poetry and Photos by Taylor Graham, Placerville, CA
—And then scroll down to Form Fiddlers’ Friday!!
PARASOL PARAPLUIE
Between sun and rain
an abandoned umbrella—
a bird sings morning.
This many-colored
flowering on dry pavement
between sun and rain—
maybe a schoolgirl forgot
herself while wishing for spring.
Between sun and rain
an abandoned umbrella—
a bird sings morning.
This many-colored
flowering on dry pavement
between sun and rain—
maybe a schoolgirl forgot
herself while wishing for spring.
BIRDSONG TERZANELLE
Dawn breaks on car horns & jackhammer rap,
flashing of lights and a flagman’s slow-down!
The same old commute—I don’t need a map
to find a way through this old concrete town,
but keep my eyes open & ears tuned to hear
flashing of lights and a flagman’s slow-down.
Turn to the left, here’s a parking spot clear
beyond the edge of quik-stop. I start to walk
but keep my eyes open & ears tuned to hear
in case the blue sky should happen to talk.
Without my car, what did I mean to do?
Beyond the edge of quik-stop I start to walk
and look, clear sky’s the most amazing blue
as, from an oak, a sparrow chirps in Bird:
Without your car, what did you mean to do?
It’s rude, but sweeter tones I never heard.
Dawn breaks on car horns & jackhammer rap
as from an oak a sparrow chirps in Bird:
I know a way thru this old concrete town.
UNCOUNTABLE STORIES
The top story was reflection
of heavens’ blue-rinsed angel wings
a kind of Jacob’s ladder
the vertigo of spirit heights.
A middle story of many layers
too many to recall of a moveable life.
The bottom story beginning of
a climb from earth to sky reversing
the bottom story, beginning of
too many to recall of a moveable life,
a middle story of many layers.
The vertigo of spirit heights—
a kind of Jacob’s ladder
of heavens’ blue-rinsed angel wing—
the top story was reflection.
GREEN CITY LIFE
This green city, seen from above,
seems borderless and self-contained,
peaceful under a birdsong breeze.
Look closer: here’s chickweed, Indian
lettuce, catchweed unnoticed in
this green city seen from above.
And farther: storksbill (2 species),
common vetch, 3 thistles, yet all
seems borderless and self-contained
till I go down on hands and knees
and run my fingers through this green
peaceful under a birdsong breeze.
—Better Tech, Photo by Leslie Bevans
BETTER TECH
Your visit is blest:
yellow-breasted sapsucker
at hanging feeder—
I know the bird so well but
your camera gets the picture.
Your visit is blest:
yellow-breasted sapsucker
at hanging feeder—
I know the bird so well but
your camera gets the picture.
THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED
On the stoop, seated
in the dusk, the day behind
him, did he ponder
what comes next? The night blessing
his field with creatures
passing imperceptibly
in the dark, and then
again, plain daylight. At last
he stood and, step by
step, carried his thoughts inside.
One light burned then flickered out.
Today’s LittleNip:
ALL COLORS SHAPES SIZES
—Taylor Graham
pill-box atop Frigidaire—
open freezer, box falls
pills are everywhere
__________________
Pills, pills, everywhere pills… The pill photo below was last week’s FFF Ekphrastic Challenge, to which Taylor Graham and a few other poets have most nimbly responded. Our thanks to them, and to TG for all her poems today!
Forms that Taylor’s poems have taken this week include a Choka (“That's What Happened”); a Palindrome that is also an Ekphrastic response to our previous Ekphrastic Challenge with the tall building and its windows (“Uncountable Stories”); a fun Terzanelle (“Birdsong Terzanelle”, and thanks to Leslie Bevans for the photo of the Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker!); a response to last week’s Seed of the Week (“City”) from Medusa’s Kitchen, as well as being last week’s Triple-F Challenge, a Cascade (“Green City Life”); a Tanka (“Better Tech”); a response to Carl Schwartz’s Reverse Haiku last week—which also responds to the Ekphrastic Challenge (see above) with all the pills (“All Colors Shapes Sizes”); and a Hainka (“Parasol Parapluie”). Got that? There'll be a quiz tomorrow.
And now it’s time for Form Fiddlers’ Friday, as St. Patrick’s Day hovers over next week . . .
FORM FIDDLERS’ FRIDAY!
ALL COLORS SHAPES SIZES
—Taylor Graham
pill-box atop Frigidaire—
open freezer, box falls
pills are everywhere
__________________
Pills, pills, everywhere pills… The pill photo below was last week’s FFF Ekphrastic Challenge, to which Taylor Graham and a few other poets have most nimbly responded. Our thanks to them, and to TG for all her poems today!
Forms that Taylor’s poems have taken this week include a Choka (“That's What Happened”); a Palindrome that is also an Ekphrastic response to our previous Ekphrastic Challenge with the tall building and its windows (“Uncountable Stories”); a fun Terzanelle (“Birdsong Terzanelle”, and thanks to Leslie Bevans for the photo of the Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker!); a response to last week’s Seed of the Week (“City”) from Medusa’s Kitchen, as well as being last week’s Triple-F Challenge, a Cascade (“Green City Life”); a Tanka (“Better Tech”); a response to Carl Schwartz’s Reverse Haiku last week—which also responds to the Ekphrastic Challenge (see above) with all the pills (“All Colors Shapes Sizes”); and a Hainka (“Parasol Parapluie”). Got that? There'll be a quiz tomorrow.
And now it’s time for Form Fiddlers’ Friday, as St. Patrick’s Day hovers over next week . . .
FORM FIDDLERS’ FRIDAY!
Stephen Kingsnorth has also responded to the Pile of Pills, as follows (and thanks for this, Stephen!):
Last week’s Ekphrastic Challenge
SWALLOW
—Stephen Kingsnorth, Coedpoeth, Wrexham, Wales, UK
A capsule sent them into space,
like station, two halves joined in one,
not easy, stuck in company,
when war breaks out beneath their feet,
and landing may be sanctioned list,
or government fall underneath.
Those blues rolled back by bubble-wrap—
school, post-war, brown, cod liver oil—
symptom attack, though not the cause;
but that’s scrip norm from pharmacies,
who deal in cure but not with heal,
and even that’s relieved, for now.
My father taught Old Testament,
for him commandments, yes, the ten,
in tablet form from mountaintop—
like me brought down from spaced-out pill.
Moses, the name my grandkids’ Miss,
whose writ in stone, as law of Medes.
The children have addiction too—
they stare, and I swallow excuse,
five minutes more, their tablet time,
as I shout up from laptop screen.
‘Do as I say not what I do’—
they read themselves to mantra sleep.
They’re pretty in those pastel shades;
in most, our choices prove the point
that good and less lie side by side,
and we decide how use the gifts
for better use or to divide.
It’s bitter that, less swallow pride.
* * *
Stephen, bless his ironic heart, could not resist a Bitter Pill reference in his poem. Here's my response:
—Public Domain Cartoon
Carol Louise Moon sent an Octo (which was also Ekphrastic—again about the pills):
CANDY/PILL CHART
(A Warning to Parents)
—Carol Louise Moon, Placerville, CA
Kids see candy rounds and ovals,
these colored pills and capsules, too—
danger when in a young child’s hand.
Though having a different name,
these medicines look quite the same—
danger when in a young child’s hand,
these colored pills and capsules, too.
Kids see candy rounds and ovals.
CANDY/PILL CHART
(A Warning to Parents)
—Carol Louise Moon, Placerville, CA
Kids see candy rounds and ovals,
these colored pills and capsules, too—
danger when in a young child’s hand.
Though having a different name,
these medicines look quite the same—
danger when in a young child’s hand,
these colored pills and capsules, too.
Kids see candy rounds and ovals.
—Public Domain Photo
_____________________
Carol Louise was politically moved to send these Pleiades, and thanks to her for them:
BIG-NORMUS
—Carol Louise Moon
Bigelo tea I sip while
“Bigly” he says on TV.
Bigger wasn’t good enough.
Bigots are all he knows, and
Bigamy is fine with him.
Biggest reputation is
BIG LIE about election.
* * *
SIDES
—Carol Louise Moon
Siding, veneer on a house.
Sideways glance, the sneer of a
sidewinder round the edge of
sideboard. Politicians, one-
sided in their opinions
side-stepping their oaths with lies;
siders siding with liars.
___________________
Caschwa (Carl Schwartz) was inspired by this artwork which we posted last week:
—Public Domain Artwork
ANCIENT HISTORY
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
it was a rainy Form Fiddlers’ Friday
some 4,300 years ago
this was before lexicons existed
God gave Noah a first draft
of a proposal to build a giant Ark
it was a rainy Form Fiddlers Friday
nobody knew yet what a cubit was
but that’s OK, this was just a prototype
some 4,300 years ago
dozens of breathing animals, no pairs,
that made for really strange bedfellows
this was before lexicons existed
* * *
A rainy Form Fiddlers’ Friday?? It’s been a while since we had one of those. About 4,300 years ago, I guess...
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
it was a rainy Form Fiddlers’ Friday
some 4,300 years ago
this was before lexicons existed
God gave Noah a first draft
of a proposal to build a giant Ark
it was a rainy Form Fiddlers Friday
nobody knew yet what a cubit was
but that’s OK, this was just a prototype
some 4,300 years ago
dozens of breathing animals, no pairs,
that made for really strange bedfellows
this was before lexicons existed
* * *
A rainy Form Fiddlers’ Friday?? It’s been a while since we had one of those. About 4,300 years ago, I guess...
(Parenthetical Puzzle #1)
_____________________________
Carl’s muse also took a look at last Friday’s new feature, the RESOURCE OF THE WEEK (this one was about Haiku—haikuoftheforest.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/matsuo-basho-selected-haiku), and came up with this chain in reply:
I TURNED THE TIDE RED
—Caschwa
jellyfish stung me
so I had no choice but to
turn the tide red
hiking, looked down, saw
armies of ants on my trail
what was I to do?
easy mark for colds
highly rated sleeping bag
a backpack fixture
a penny a snail
to pluck them from the garden
that was my first job
took me extra long
to learn to ride a bike
then I kept going
went from first trumpet
in elementary school
to only tuba
my dad died 20 years
before smartphones were common
he had a slide rule
bussed and walked to work
at a big-city savings & loan
couldn’t bring it home
why does the light of day
go into one ear and not
out of the other?
forest natural
accepts things just as they are
that’s my new hair style
I TURNED THE TIDE RED
—Caschwa
jellyfish stung me
so I had no choice but to
turn the tide red
hiking, looked down, saw
armies of ants on my trail
what was I to do?
easy mark for colds
highly rated sleeping bag
a backpack fixture
a penny a snail
to pluck them from the garden
that was my first job
took me extra long
to learn to ride a bike
then I kept going
went from first trumpet
in elementary school
to only tuba
my dad died 20 years
before smartphones were common
he had a slide rule
bussed and walked to work
at a big-city savings & loan
couldn’t bring it home
why does the light of day
go into one ear and not
out of the other?
forest natural
accepts things just as they are
that’s my new hair style
(Parenthetical Puzzle #2)
_______________________________
This next poem of Carl’s is intended to stimulate the Muse in a Seed-of-the-Week kind of way. If any of them DO inspire you, send your poetic results to kathykieth@hotmail.com/. (No deadline.)
THOUSANDS OF WORDS
—Caschwa
twilight
sinkhole
eruption
dinner is served
it’s a boy!
—Public Domain Cartoon
______________________
Joe Nolan doesn’t work in traditional forms, but his ear does love a good rhythm and rhyme. Here is a cheery poem of his to help us launch the Season of Flowers:
SUNFLOWER SONGS
—Joe Nolan, Stockton, CA
Can you hear
Your sunflowers singing,
In summer, standing tall,
With yellow petals
Around their seeds,
Circling them all?
Bright is yellow
And bright is sun.
Sunflowers are
Heard to be singing,
By nearly everyone.
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan
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!
____________________
TRIPLE-F CHALLENGE!
This week's Triple-F Challenge is the Rhyme Royal: (www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/rhyme-royal-rime-royale). See what you can make of this poetry form, and send it to kathykieth@hotmail.com! (No deadline.) Here is an example which was sent to us by Joyce Odam:
PLACE
—Joyce Odam, Sacramento, CA
This is the all and nothing—this is the where.
This is the when your prison is uncaged.
That gold presence was never your despair.
This is where you come to be amazed—
Here you will be anointed and be praised—
Every distance traveled—near and far.
How can you not remember where you are?
Or, heck, try the crazy Hainka, a new form that has appeared in Writers’ Digest (www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/hainka-haiku-tanka-new-genre-of-poetic-form) and was sent to us this week by Taylor Graham. Here is her example, which also appeared in her post above:
PARASOL PARAPLUIE
—Taylor Graham
Between sun and rain
an abandoned umbrella—
a bird sings morning.
This many-colored
flowering on dry pavement
between sun and rain—
maybe a schoolgirl forgot
herself while wishing for spring.
And see the bottom of this post for another challenge, this one an Ekphrastic one, a little something for this weekend’s return of Daylight Savings Time here on the West Coast of the U.S.
__________________
MEDUSA’S FORM FINDER: Links to poetry terms mentioned today:
•••Cascade: www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/cascade.html
•••Choka: poetscollective.org/poetryforms/choka
•••Ekphrastic Poem: notesofoak.com/discover-literature/ekphrastic-poetry
•••Haibun: www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/haibun-poems-poetic-form
•••Haiku: www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/haiku/haiku.html
•••Hainka: www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/hainka-haiku-tanka-new-genre-of-poetic-form
•••Octo: poetscollective.org/poetryforms/octo
•••Palindromic Poem (Mirror Poetry): www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides/personal-updates/poetic-form-palindrome-poetry-or-mirror-poem
•••Pleiades: www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/pleiades.html
•••Rhyme Royal: www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/rhyme-royal-rime-royale
•••Tanka: poets.org/glossary/tanka
•••Terzanelle: www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/terzanelle-poetic-form
__________________
RESOURCE OF THE WEEK:
•••Kaleidoscope: www.languageisavirus.com/poetry-guide/index.html
__________________
—Medusa, and a top o' the week to ya!
Today's Ekphrastic Challenge!
See what you can make of the above
photo, and send your poetic results to
kathykieth@hotmail.com/. (No deadline.)
***
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of
Joe Nolan
Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
