When waters whelmed the tyrant and his men
And drained that wealthy kingdom of its power,
It seemed the consequence of all that then
Would be for slaves to rise up to the hour
And take it back. But came the high command
That turned them east and set them desert-bound
That they may become of the Promised Land
Of Paradise where lasting peace is found.
And thus the most beloved of the Lord
Returned, a conqueor with head bowed low
With reason for the conquest: to afford
The Abrahamic pilgrimage. So know:
Seek kingdom and authority on earth
To be deprived of it where has it worth.
Archives for February 2015
Falling Snow
Forging a new form. I find this one works well to combine a visual scene with an abstract thought that it inspires. The form comprises five stanzas:
- A sestet detailing a scene (two lines of trimeter and one tetrameter, repeating as aac bbc)
- A couplet summarizing the scene (trimeter, i.e. keep it short)
- A sestet re-inforcing the preceding stanzas and/or gradually introducing the abstraction (same meter as first sestet)
- A couplet followed by
- A tercet – i.e. five lines that clarify the abstraction.
I’m going to try and repeat this form in a future post to see if it holds up :-). Share your thoughts in a comment here, or email me.
Powdered sugar driveways;
Slipping on the highways;
Crystal wonder flakes in motion;
Fallen in an hour
In a gentle shower,
Look around you: it’s an ocean.
Snow, snow, snow, everywhere,
Float and blow through the air,
Let the whiners blather
On that they would rather
Brave the summertime commotion.
Feel the mercy falling,
I can hear you calling
Through the layers of this notion.
Snow and love fall the same
From above in the name
Of the ever living,
And forever giving
Center of a heart’s devotion.