Tag Archives: sea

NaPoWriMo 2023 Day 17

Image

Reply
Photo Credit: Joseph Barrientos
https://unsplash.com/@jbcreate_

Here is an oldie but goodie—a prompt to write a tritina. The tritina is a shorter cousin to the sestina, involving three, three-line stanzas, and a final concluding line. Three “end words” are used to conclude the lines of each stanza, in a set pattern of ABC, CAB, BCA, and all three end words appear together in the final line.

Ok, so this one confused me a bit. I read it several times and then read an explanation online. The words don’t have to rhyme, and you can chose whatever meter you wish for the three lines. So….Here is my very first tritina. Enjoy!

the sea and the shore 

whitecaps exploded as sea met the shore--
spumescent waves of gossamer shimmer.
what could i do but listen to their song?

the melody calm as an angel song;
a lullaby dancing on toes near shore.
what could i do but watch the blue shimmer? 

the sun rose adding light to the shimmer,
the earth rejoicing in this morning song.
what could i do but cast my eyes from shore?

hope rolled to shore, on a shimmer of song.

NaPoWriMo 2022 Day 27 That Day

Image

Reply
Thank you and shoutout to Silas Baisch who made this image available for free on Unsplash.

Today’s prompt was the challenge to write a “duplex.” A “duplex” is a variation on the sonnet, developed by the poet Jericho Brown. Here’s one of his first “Duplex” poems, and here is a duplex written by the poet I.S. Jones.

Like a typical sonnet, a duplex has fourteen lines. It’s organized into seven, two-line stanzas. The second line of the first stanza is echoed by (but not identical to) the first line of the second stanza, the second line of the second stanza is echoed by (but not identical to) the first line of the third stanza, and so on. The last line (or two) of the poem is the same as the first.

This is based on a true story. One day, if the mood seems right, over coffee and croissants, I will share the rest of the story with you.

Come on by and let’s make a date for coffee.

That Day

What I remember most is the ocean releasing—
crisp, cool breezes and a bevy of blues.

      You left me there by the stony beach—blues
      and greens assault my senses, I cannot look away

 A way off in the distance your boat lurches
 But not as much as my heart when she slips 

     Slips slowly under the water, eyes wide open
     Open arms floating just beneath the surface

The surface of the water explodes 
With my crazed frenzy. Panic rising 

     Rising until bile is all I taste, but somehow, somehow…
     My memory is blurred but I remember—

crisp, cool breezes and a bevy of blues;
what I remember most is the ocean.

—cjpjordan


Fair Chaps Beware

Image

Reply
Photo Credit: Carla Jeanne

Today’s challenge was to write a poem that reacts both to photography and to words in a language not your own. I had to begin with a photograph, and then find a poem in a language I didn’t know. My mission was to start translating the poem into English, with the idea that the poem was actually “about” my photograph.

I chose a poem in Irish (Gaelic) and used a photo I took at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. First is the poem in its original language, and following is my “translation”.

Faoi Chabáistí is Ríonacha 
By Celia de Fréine 

In ionad bláthanna a bhronnadh ar a bhean
agus é i mbun tochmhairc, 
d’fhrasaigh Risteard 
bronntanais ar a máthair.  I dtosach 
tháinig na málaí plaisteacha, ansin na saic, 
iad lán le glasraí a d'fhás sé féin 
a is a athair. 
Leasaithe go nádúrtha.  Uiscithe faoi scáth 
hoíche i rith an triomaigh. 
Turnapaí ar aon mhéid le do chloigeann. 
 Prátaí Rí Éadbhard as ar deineadh 
na sceallóga ba shúmhaire.  Cabáistí 
sách leathan le ceathrairíní a cheilt. 
Ní raibh bean Risteaird ag súil le ceathrairíní – 
iníon a leanbh sise, í tugtha go mór 
do fhrithbhualadh na glúine, ar nós a máthar.

**************

Fair Chaps Beware

Over eons the base 
of the bastions 
blossomed, ageless 
and immune to time 

like a resilient band 
of brothers. I searched 
those majestic rolling plains
atop the pounding sea,

and under my gaze 
their angel hair 
frolicked in the wind. 
Let no man go adventuring, 

unless he find the path; 
for high and wide 
the tumultuous treachery 
hidden below the churning sea.

Yes, pounding against 
and pounding beneath,
the salacious sea sings 
her song. Come, she sings, 

lay your head on my chest. 
No radiant beams shine 
more resiliently than I, 
she croons; from here, 

I lovingly rise to greet 
the moon. So lest you frivolous
and foolish be, go no more 
near the edge of the sea.

—Carla Jeanne Picklo Jordan

What your favorite place to visit?

NaPoWriMo Day Seven

Posted on by
1

#NaPoWriMo 2016 Day Seven

The prompt for today was a challenge to write a tritina. The tritina is a shorter cousin to the sestina, involving three, three-line stanzas, and a final concluding line. Three “end words” are used to conclude the lines of each stanza, in a set pattern of ABC, CAB, BCA, and all three end words appear together in the final line.

Ok, so this one confused me a bit. I read it several times, and then read an explanation online. The words don’t have to rhyme, and you can chose whatever meter you wish for the three lines. So….Here is my very first tritina. Enjoy!

  
the sea and the shore

whitecaps exploded as sea met the shore–
spumescent waves of gossamer shimmer.
what could i do but listen to their song?

the melody calm as an angel song;
a lullaby dancing on toes near shore.
what could i do but watch the blue shimmer?

the sun rose adding light to the shimmer,
the earth rejoicing in this morning song.
what could i do but cast my eyes from shore?

hope rolled to shore, on a shimmer of song.