—Poetry and Photos by Taylor Graham, Placerville, CA
—And scroll down for Form Fiddlers’ Friday!
A DREAM OF LEAF DANCE
for a Special-Ed teacher
From the heap of autumn-fall, take one leaf
and then another. Hold them up to light.
This one, unspeaking, is a mother’s grief.
And joy. A single deep-veined leaf takes flight
from your hand. It rises, aloft it stays
among the leaves all sweeping up in swirls.
You stand there in a speechless wind-drift haze
that changes into living boys and girls—
these tree-leaves dancing in a classroom breeze
like children for a dreaming-instant lost
to pedagogy’s logic. Elbows, knees—
look, you’re dancing too, every T uncrossed.
If these are children of a leaf-fall chance,
what can a teacher do with them but dance?
for a Special-Ed teacher
From the heap of autumn-fall, take one leaf
and then another. Hold them up to light.
This one, unspeaking, is a mother’s grief.
And joy. A single deep-veined leaf takes flight
from your hand. It rises, aloft it stays
among the leaves all sweeping up in swirls.
You stand there in a speechless wind-drift haze
that changes into living boys and girls—
these tree-leaves dancing in a classroom breeze
like children for a dreaming-instant lost
to pedagogy’s logic. Elbows, knees—
look, you’re dancing too, every T uncrossed.
If these are children of a leaf-fall chance,
what can a teacher do with them but dance?
(prev. pub. in Red River Review)
A HEALING PLACE
Backside of our rocky hill,
lookout point over speeding life,
a play to daydream is a place of grief:
how many accidents at the lethal curve?
Cathedral of trees, a place where
searchers might look for a lost man
grown tired of his life.
A place of grief and healing:
fairy lanterns, and a slash pile hiding
8 turkey eggs, then only broken shells;
and from a stump left for dead
by chainsaws—once a graceful oak—
a spray of tough green branches
leafing out of loss.
JAZZ
Time’s a-wasting on Hold. Finally, How can I help you? A deep dark voice from the other side of phone-waves. Her name is Jasmine. I wonder: Jaz for short? as I tell my problem. She explains how short-handed they are, COVID, you know. She tells me what I should do. I say, COVID is messing everything up. This opens the gate. She’s out of her corporate self, goes on improv, says the only way she’s getting through all this is her little boy, his happy babbling—brook-water. She goes on and on,
her voice becomes smile,
the laugh of a life lifting.
Was this time wasted?
SLOWLY
Alligator
lizard toes
grip one by one
each toe each foot
traversing
this gray stone.
MEMORY TILES
The colors of adobe clay!
She scrubs the tiles of kitchen floor
on hands and knees as if to pray,
and tells you it’s a healing chore
reminding her of years before—
the colors of adobe clay,
a hillside overlooking shore
and sea beyond. But for today,
she’ll scrub and put the mop away
and toss the water out the door.
The colors of adobe clay
she keeps in memory, to explore
beneath the skin, a glowing core.
Just see what shine the sunbeams play
on fresh-washed earth like precious ore—
the colors of adobe clay.
LAST NIGHT’S ENCOUNTER
Two wild creatures have written their stories on the woodland trail—
one an eater of grapes, and the other an eater of beasts.
How could such encounter turn out? We might make of it a poem.
Today’s LittleNip:
FIERCE HUNTING
—Taylor Graham
A tough week, headaches
with machines and devices—
but now the swifthawk
loop-maneuvers through oak woods,
as graceful as a healing.
______________________
Good autumn morning to those around the Kitchen table who’ve been listening to Taylor Graham’s tales of life and healing in the Sierra foothills! She has sent us lovely lizards and other souvenirs of 2020, some of them in forms: a Shakespearean Sonnet (“A Dream of Leaf Dance”); a Waka (“Fierce Hunting”); a Quatern (“Memory Tiles”); a Sijo (“Last Night's Encounter”); and a Cherita (“Slowly”)—plus a Haibun.
And now it’s time for.......
FORM FIDDLERS’ FRIDAY!
FIERCE HUNTING
—Taylor Graham
A tough week, headaches
with machines and devices—
but now the swifthawk
loop-maneuvers through oak woods,
as graceful as a healing.
______________________
Good autumn morning to those around the Kitchen table who’ve been listening to Taylor Graham’s tales of life and healing in the Sierra foothills! She has sent us lovely lizards and other souvenirs of 2020, some of them in forms: a Shakespearean Sonnet (“A Dream of Leaf Dance”); a Waka (“Fierce Hunting”); a Quatern (“Memory Tiles”); a Sijo (“Last Night's Encounter”); and a Cherita (“Slowly”)—plus a Haibun.
And now it’s time for.......
FORM FIDDLERS’ FRIDAY!
We’re welcoming Joyce Odam this morning; she has sent us two poems today, starting with a Canopus stanza:
HEART-EASE
—Joyce Odam, Sacramento, CA
Brooding into silence, you withdraw.
An hour into winter—and you feel
something in the mind begin to gnaw—
something that the heart begs to reveal.
Wet shadows stream against the windowpane.
You let the mind and heart begin to heal.
You sit and watch. You listen to the rain.
Joyce has also sent us a Termelay, an unrhymed poem of six lines in tetrameter. Syllables: 4, 4, 4, 8, 8, 4; lines 3 and 6 are identical (refrain) lines. (See also poetscollective.org/poetryforms/termelay/.
Here is her catchy example:
ON RECKONING
—Joyce Odam
The stars won't fall.
I knew that once.
I don't count stars.
The sky has nothing to refute.
My idle thoughts. My counted tears.
I don't count stars.
ON RECKONING
—Joyce Odam
The stars won't fall.
I knew that once.
I don't count stars.
The sky has nothing to refute.
My idle thoughts. My counted tears.
I don't count stars.
And Carl Schwartz (Caschwa) has been his usual prolific self, sending two Nonets:
MORNING AFTER
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
I am the dream you can’t remember
Pillars of Creativity
three gaseous columns that
contain all the matter
the universe has
cute pole dancers
begging dog
headache
ouch!
* * *
TRUST ISSUES
—Caschwa
in this mad and crazy world of ours
they always get what they ask for
nothing’s out of the question
that makes it into print,
on greenback dollars
right at the top
“in trickle
down we
trust”
Carl has also sent us a Clogyrnach:
INCOMMUNICADO
—Caschwa
I was born walking distance from
magic lots from which movies come
hadn’t learned to walk
nor could I yet talk
only gawk
at my tum
limos came and went all day
tinted windows, nothing to say
filming commercials
citing credentials
rehearsals
till nerves fray
top entertainers deep in thought
would their pay cover what they bought?
they know their lines well
but directors dwell
that will sell…
maybe not
INCOMMUNICADO
—Caschwa
I was born walking distance from
magic lots from which movies come
hadn’t learned to walk
nor could I yet talk
only gawk
at my tum
limos came and went all day
tinted windows, nothing to say
filming commercials
citing credentials
rehearsals
till nerves fray
top entertainers deep in thought
would their pay cover what they bought?
they know their lines well
but directors dwell
that will sell…
maybe not
And his “Life Vests” is in the Octo format:
LIFE VESTS
—Caschwa
free life vests along the river
invincible kids refuse them
stupidity is their demise
parents are just as bad with masks
uncovered mouths filter nothing
stupidity is their demise
invincible kids refuse them
free life vests along the river
LIFE VESTS
—Caschwa
free life vests along the river
invincible kids refuse them
stupidity is their demise
parents are just as bad with masks
uncovered mouths filter nothing
stupidity is their demise
invincible kids refuse them
free life vests along the river
________________________
There’s a link at the top of Medusa’s Kitchen called, “Medusa Mulls/Forms, Etc.” which expresses some of my (take ‘em or leave 'em) opinions about the use of forms in poetry. Check it out if you doubt~
And 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!
______________________
MEDUSA’S FORM FINDER: Links to poetry forms mentioned today:
•••Canopus: www.poetrymagnumopus.com/forums/topic/1199-metric-forms-from-pathways-for-the-poet
•••Cherita: medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/search?q=cherita
•••Clogyrnach: www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/clogyrnach-poetic-form
•••Haibun: www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/haibun-poems-poetic-form
•••Nonet: www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/nonet-poems-poetic-form
•••Octo: poetscollective.org/poetryforms/octo
•••Quatern: www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-quatern#what-is-a-quatern
•••Shakespearean Sonnet: www.masterclass.com/articles/poetry-101-what-is-a-shakespearean-sonnet-learn-about-shakespearean-sonnets-with-examples
•••Sijo: www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/sijo-poetic-form
•••Termelay: poetscollective.org/poetryforms/termelay
•••Waka: poetscollective.org/poetryforms/waka
_______________________
—Medusa
—Public Domain Photo
Photos in this column can be enlarged by
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