—Poetry and Photos by Taylor Graham,
Placerville, CA
—And then scroll down for
Form Fiddlers’ Friday!!
HOW I WOKE
Joy-dance
rain on roof, soft
but insistent beat,
winter morning dim cloud-darkling—
droplets cascading from aloft
so many leaping feet
each one sparkling
in joy-dance
Joy-dance
rain on roof, soft
but insistent beat,
winter morning dim cloud-darkling—
droplets cascading from aloft
so many leaping feet
each one sparkling
in joy-dance
NEW YEAR PERSPECTIVE
The last day of the old year
washed away more than a year’s
waste. By first-light a small lake
where driveway was and ranch gate
wrenched from opening. Dry-creek
race course raging down stampede
of mud-brown horses bucking
down into water-machine.
Our hilltop house an island.
Whatever resolutions
for the new year washed away,
quite forgotten in the flow.
WHERE ARE WE
On that quirky globe we spin,
hustling continents and oceans into
a kaleidoscope of sunrise pink & sunset
blood-red, skyblue hope and fallow-
yellow, mountain lavender, turquoise
sea—patterns ever changing nations’
names, colors, borders—we
world voyagers by proxy (you
in your all-season sweater)
until the tilted globe slows; and
as if blind you jab a finger down to stop
it spinning, and announce
We Are Here.
RISEN FROM ROT
Here, overnight,
tiny old man
in well-worn cap
waiting for the bus home?
a cloak of fairytale?
Science tells me it comes from some
living kingdom all its own—not
plant nor animal—and
mysterious as life.
WHAT ARE WORDS?
It took ten years to write a poem
that reconciled you to that loss, to let
the old dog go in peace.
Other griefs remain as bleeding sores;
how long until you find the words
to bury them in peace?
Walk out in the healing woods
under silent leafless oaks,
your footsteps making no sound.
Layers of decomposing leaves
recomposing themselves as soil,
and new green pushing through.
Listen to the oak woods
without a human word like “joy”
composing you a poem.
It took ten years to write a poem
that reconciled you to that loss, to let
the old dog go in peace.
Other griefs remain as bleeding sores;
how long until you find the words
to bury them in peace?
Walk out in the healing woods
under silent leafless oaks,
your footsteps making no sound.
Layers of decomposing leaves
recomposing themselves as soil,
and new green pushing through.
Listen to the oak woods
without a human word like “joy”
composing you a poem.
DECEMBER BACCRESIEZÉ
A light drizzle, this low gray day
to end the year—this low gray day
over field and hill waiting for
the joy of green,
waiting for creek to run between,
its banks long dry in summer drought.
A light drizzle, this low gray day,
the joy of green
holding its hope of winter rains
this low gray day that promises
the joy of green.
Today’s LittleNip:
JUST THE TWO OF US
—Taylor Graham
Joy of sharing, you and I,
Christmas cookies from our friends—
one for you and one for me
(no sneaking extras!).
____________________
Taylor Graham’s pen (computer?) has danced with the weather this week, speaking to our recent Seed of the Week: Joy, and we thank her for that courageous start to the new year. Forms she has used include the Word-Can Poem, which is also an answer to Medusa's Ekphrastic photo from last week (“Where Are We”); Triple-F Challenges including an Octodil (“Risen from Rot”), an Octaine (“How I Woke”), and a Dodoitsu (“Just the Two of Us”); as well as a Triversen (“What Are Words?”); a Baccresiezé (“December Baccresiezé”) and some Normative Syllabics (“New Year Perspective”).
JUST THE TWO OF US
—Taylor Graham
Joy of sharing, you and I,
Christmas cookies from our friends—
one for you and one for me
(no sneaking extras!).
____________________
Taylor Graham’s pen (computer?) has danced with the weather this week, speaking to our recent Seed of the Week: Joy, and we thank her for that courageous start to the new year. Forms she has used include the Word-Can Poem, which is also an answer to Medusa's Ekphrastic photo from last week (“Where Are We”); Triple-F Challenges including an Octodil (“Risen from Rot”), an Octaine (“How I Woke”), and a Dodoitsu (“Just the Two of Us”); as well as a Triversen (“What Are Words?”); a Baccresiezé (“December Baccresiezé”) and some Normative Syllabics (“New Year Perspective”).
Today
is the first day of Epiphany in the Christian year, and tonight is a
full moon. Gee—I always hope the full moon will bring me an epiphany...
For more info about El Dorado County poetry events, go to Western Slope El Dorado poetry on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ElDoradoCountyPoetry or see El Dorado County Poet Laureate Lara Gularte’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/382234029968077/. Poetry is Gold in El Dorado County!
And now it’s time for . . .
Form Fiddlers' Friday!
It’s time for more contributions from Form Fiddlers, in addition to those sent to us by Taylor Graham. Each Friday, there will be poems posted here from our readers using forms—either ones which were sent to Medusa during the previous week, or whatever else floats through the Kitchen and the perpetually stoned mind of Medusa. If these instructions are vague, it's because they're meant to be. Just fiddle around with some challenges. Whaddaya got to lose… If you send ‘em, I’ll post ‘em! (See Medusa’s Form Finder at the end of this post for resources and for links to poetry terms used in today’s post.)
There’s also a newly dusted-off page at the top of Medusa’s Kitchen called, “FORMS! OMG!!!” which expresses some of my (take ‘em or leave 'em) opinions about the use of forms in poetry writing, as well as listing some more resources to help you navigate through Form Quicksand. Got any more resources to add to our list? Send them to kathykieth@hotmail.com for the benefit of all man/woman/poetkind!
Last Week’s Ekphrastic Challenge
Here are some poems which were written about last week’s Ekphrastic Challenge:
What is the world, but a ball
descending a Times Square pole
to mark another year, we hope.
What is the world, but a door you can walk
through, but never come back.
What is the world, but a skein of yarn
unrolling into tomorrow.
What is the world, but a wool dryer ball
the dogs chewed into a shape that isn’t round.
What is the world, but firework bursts of flowers
that fizzle and spark into dreams.
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY
* * *
GLOBE
—Stephen Kingsnorth, Coedpoeth, Wrexham, Wales
The turquoise is overwhelming—
just as our sickly sea;
for someone has gummed up the works—
blue bubble-gum, ask me.
These brightly coloured jigsaw sets—
here’s ocean not the earth—
scened mainly empire red when born;
so glad now free-flagged, worth.
I’ll fly a kite—perhaps balloon—
globe’s better than a map;
not mid-atlas, equator lat—
Mercator thought South scrap.
So what’s projected, our world view,
unbalanced way we’re raised?
For will this planet ball blow up
or if laid flat be phased?
* * *
Nolcha Fox was inspired by the repeated lines of the Villanelle form, so she wrote her own version of one—sort of a Faux Villanelle:
We visited
your grave today.
We buried you four years ago.
The marker fades to leaves and ice.
We buried you four years ago.
The marker fades, the rocks are gone.
We visited, but you weren’t there.
The marker fades, you are a dream.
We buried you, you only live in photographs.
We visited, will I come back next year?
—Nolcha Fox
* * *
Nolcha writes: “A friend of mine told me about the Sher poetic form. I looked it up and found out that a Ghazal is made of Shers. So, I attempted a (dark) Ghazal, and as usual, broke the rules” [I guess that was a “Sher” thing… ]:
Smokin’!
CALLING OUT
—Nolcha Fox
Sunlight slants at an angle of loss, calling out to shadows.
You listen to exhaustion, calling out for rest.
Eyes a blue-chipped china glaze, you’re second-hand-store goods.
You sacrifice yourself to lust, calling out for satin undress.
The clock counts down the minutes as you wait to end your numbness.
A razor river red from wrists, calling out for death.
* * *
And here is an Ars Poetica from Stephen Kingsnorth about the difficulties of communicating through poetry:
JUDE
—Stephen Kingsnorth
My title, Jude, you understand?
If but a hardy soul, you should.
Perhaps my verse is not your space
but yours the access—trace my mind.
Why can you not hear what I voice
and, taken plunge, still get it wrong?
I’ll write, gazing in crystal ball—
if yet unseen, your wiring’s poor.
I’ll use the info learned at school—
for poetry found learnèd brains.
Perhaps I’ll translate, common state,
and then you’ll celebrate as found?
Now what I share is something known
or else the poem’s not owned, mine,
but common knowledge, commonwealth,
and recognition not my deal—
the common touch still calls for breadth—
but as I’ve finished, up to you. .
“But, friend, we seek a commonplace,
that least you write, available,
not easy grace for trampling swine
but observation, chiming bells.
So, application to the task,
my answer only if both work,
and then the page that typist typed
has archetypal emphasis.
So, come together, pilgrim road,
discover what’s new in our world,
inherent posers, if we ask—
an entry point, art comprehend.
If bounded, wedded, stewardship
it might be both, best understand.”
___________________
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 CHALLENGES!
See what you can make of this week’s poetry forms, and send them to kathykieth@hotmail.com! (No deadline.)
How’s your Urdu? Let’s take two of Nolcha’s “Shers” and make a Fard. According to https://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/628-the-sher-and-its-meters-beher-with-options/, “the Sher is a ‘complete couplet’. In Urdu the Sher is a poem in itself and when the two lines are a lone composition not surrounded by other Shers, it is called a Fard.” So try out some Shers and see if you can make a complete poem out of one, resulting in a “Fard”:
•••Sher: https://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/628-the-sher-and-its-meters-beher-with-options
—Stephen Kingsnorth
My title, Jude, you understand?
If but a hardy soul, you should.
Perhaps my verse is not your space
but yours the access—trace my mind.
Why can you not hear what I voice
and, taken plunge, still get it wrong?
I’ll write, gazing in crystal ball—
if yet unseen, your wiring’s poor.
I’ll use the info learned at school—
for poetry found learnèd brains.
Perhaps I’ll translate, common state,
and then you’ll celebrate as found?
Now what I share is something known
or else the poem’s not owned, mine,
but common knowledge, commonwealth,
and recognition not my deal—
the common touch still calls for breadth—
but as I’ve finished, up to you. .
“But, friend, we seek a commonplace,
that least you write, available,
not easy grace for trampling swine
but observation, chiming bells.
So, application to the task,
my answer only if both work,
and then the page that typist typed
has archetypal emphasis.
So, come together, pilgrim road,
discover what’s new in our world,
inherent posers, if we ask—
an entry point, art comprehend.
If bounded, wedded, stewardship
it might be both, best understand.”
___________________
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 CHALLENGES!
See what you can make of this week’s poetry forms, and send them to kathykieth@hotmail.com! (No deadline.)
How’s your Urdu? Let’s take two of Nolcha’s “Shers” and make a Fard. According to https://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/628-the-sher-and-its-meters-beher-with-options/, “the Sher is a ‘complete couplet’. In Urdu the Sher is a poem in itself and when the two lines are a lone composition not surrounded by other Shers, it is called a Fard.” So try out some Shers and see if you can make a complete poem out of one, resulting in a “Fard”:
•••Sher: https://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/628-the-sher-and-its-meters-beher-with-options
•••Fard: https://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/628-the-sher-and-its-meters-beher-with-options
Then put two Fards on one subject into a Qataa, a “composition limited to 2 Shers sharing one subject, a poem in four lines”:
•••Qataa: https://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/628-the-sher-and-its-meters-beher-with-options
Working with these Shers is central to the Urdu form—the Ghazal— which has permeated English-speaking culture, but is often done wrong, without giving the poor little Shers their individuality.
As the resource listed says, to make a Ghazal, “Each Sher should be able to stand alone including a volta or turn between the L1 and L2. L2 should bring a twist or surprise as a response or expansion of L1. The Sher should require no other lines around it to be complete. The lines should be of equal length.”
Oh yeah—don’t forget the surprise (a twist, also called a Volta)!
•••Volta: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/volta
•••See also the bottom of this post for another challenge, this one an Ekphrastic photo.
•••And don’t forget each Tuesday’s Seed of the Week! This week it’s “Back on the Horse”.
Then put two Fards on one subject into a Qataa, a “composition limited to 2 Shers sharing one subject, a poem in four lines”:
•••Qataa: https://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/628-the-sher-and-its-meters-beher-with-options
Working with these Shers is central to the Urdu form—the Ghazal— which has permeated English-speaking culture, but is often done wrong, without giving the poor little Shers their individuality.
As the resource listed says, to make a Ghazal, “Each Sher should be able to stand alone including a volta or turn between the L1 and L2. L2 should bring a twist or surprise as a response or expansion of L1. The Sher should require no other lines around it to be complete. The lines should be of equal length.”
Oh yeah—don’t forget the surprise (a twist, also called a Volta)!
•••Volta: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/volta
•••See also the bottom of this post for another challenge, this one an Ekphrastic photo.
•••And don’t forget each Tuesday’s Seed of the Week! This week it’s “Back on the Horse”.
____________________
MEDUSA’S FORM FINDER: Links to poetry terms mentioned today:
•••Ars Poetica: www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/ars-poetica
•••Baccresiezé: www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/1882-syllabic-forms-found-in-pathways-for-the-poet/#veltanelle
•••Dodoitsu: www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/dodoitsu-poetic-forms
•••Ekphrastic Poem: notesofoak.com/discover-literature/ekphrastic-poetry
•••Fard: https://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/628-the-sher-and-its-meters-beher-with-options
•••Ghazal: poets.org/glossary/ghazal AND/OR poetryschool.com/theblog/whats-a-ghaza AND/OR www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/ghazal AND/OR
www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/ghazal.html •••Normative Syllabics: hellopoetry.com/collection/108/normative-syllabic-free-verse AND/OR lewisturco.typepad.com/poetics/normative-syllabic-verse
•••Octain: www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/1882-syllabic-forms-found-in-pathways-for-the-poet/#veltanelle
•••Octodil: www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/1882-syllabic-forms-found-in-pathways-for-the-poet/#veltanelle
•••Qataa: https://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/628-the-sher-and-its-meters-beher-with-options
•••Sher: https://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/628-the-sher-and-its-meters-beher-with-options
•••Triversen: www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/triversen-poetic-form
•••Villanelle (rhymed; can be unrhymed): www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/poetic-forms-villanelle
•••Volta: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/volta
•••Word-Can Poem: putting random words on slips of paper into a can, then drawing out a few and making a poem out of them.
For more about meter, see:
•••www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-iambic-pentameter-definition-literature
•••www.pandorapost.com/2021/05/examples-of-iambic-pentameter-tetrameter-and-trimeter-in-poetry.html
•••nosweatshakespeare.com/sonnets/iambic-pentameter
•••www.thoughtco.com/introducing-iambic-pentameter-2985082
•••www.nfi.edu/iambic-pentameter
____________________
—Medusa
See what you can make of the above
photo, and send your poetic results to
kathykieth@hotmail.com/. (No deadline.)
***
—Photo Courtesy of Public Domain
For upcoming poetry happenings in
Northern California and otherwheres,
click on
UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
(http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html)
in the links at the top of this page.
Photos in this column can be enlarged by
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in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
