A strange thing happened this morning. My poetry buddy messaged me and said, “Theres no prompt for today, what shall we do?”

Immediately I pulled up NaPoWriMo and sound he was right.

In this climate of global pandemic, I truly hope that the person who gives the prompts is healthy and well. I’m sending all my positivity and prayer for good health his/her way today.

This year marks my eighth year of participating in NaPoWriMo, and in all those years, I have never experienced a day without a prompt. My buddy laid down the challenge of writing a triolet today (no, not “toilet”, autocorrect).

A triolet is a poem of eight lines, typically of eight syllables each, rhyming abaaabab and so structured that the first line recurs as the fourth and seventh and the second as the eighth.

Sounds like some weird crazy poetry torture device, doesn’t it?

Well, I finished off my coffee and found this helpful cheat chart.

Triolet Lines:
1. A
2. B
3. a  Rhymes with 1st line.
4. A  identical to 1st line.
5. a  Rhymes with 1st line.
6. b  Rhymes with 2nd line.
7. A  Identical to 1st line.
8. B  Identical to 2nd line.

Armed with this information and another cup of Roast House coffee, I penned this triolet. It seemed very fitting of our first potentially 80 degree day after a long bleak winter.

Sunflowers 

Face the sun and there’s no shadow
like all the good sunflowers do.
Upturned face in aureate glow 
face the sun and there’s no shadow.
when glory blooms in the meadow,
those feelings of goodness ensue;
face the sun and there’s no shadow
like all the good sunflowers do.

—A draft Triolet by Carla Jeanne Picklo Jordan

If you enjoyed my little venture, please comment in the section below. Wishing you a face full of sunshine today.