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Hello Poets,
I'm broiling, how about you?
Inkling, Catherine at Reading to the Core, challenged us to write a triptych in the spirit of what Irene offered at Live Your Poem on July 4th.
My first step was to learn what a triptych poem is!
A poem of three stanzas
The first stanza comments on the past, the second comments on the present,
and the third comments on the future. The second stanza is twice as long as
the first and third.
A poem consisting of three poems of equal length displayed side-by-side, like the panels of a triptych painting. Not only do the poems work together thematically, like the painting, they actually form a fourth poem. The fourth poem is read horizontally across the three poems. This fourth poem completes the theme of the Triptych.
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| Photo from Margaret Simon's weekly prompt, 'This Photo Wants to be a Poem.' |
Mary Lee Hahn @ A(nother) Year of Reading
Catherine Flynn @ Reading to the Core
Molly Hogan @ Nix the Comfort Zone
Margaret Simon @ Reflections on the TecheHeidi Mordhorst @ my juicy little universe
Linda, I’m hoping those “achy bones” don’t threaten till spring thaw… I like the brevity in the Egypt poem. I wrote some triptych poems a while back, though mine were much longer, and I think your shorter ones work better, thanks!
ReplyDeleteI didn’t follow these rules at all. I noticed how your second one could easily be read across as well as down. Was that your intent? It sure is a nice cool breeze to read about winter during the summer. Summer lasts so long here that I forget there is any other way to live. “Cold shoulder”! (Mine is “frozen”, an actual physical condition, believe it or not.)
ReplyDeleteoooof. Physical therapy helps a frozen shoulder, but it's a year of healing. The poem about Egypt was sparked by Ethical ELA's prompt of three lists -- one of which was list places you've been but not lived in.
DeleteOh, wow - impressive! And as achy as the first selection with Mary Lee's line is, the hint of cold was kind of refreshing this week! ;0) Lovely lyrical words in the second.
ReplyDeleteI like how many ways there are to interpret the idea of a triptych, Linda. Your Egypt poem is mysterious and wonderful--the lily tower?! So biblical, so modern!
ReplyDeleteLinda, these are lovely! I love "rain turned a cold shoulder" and "drink the dark" and "past is ever present." I need to try a triptych!
ReplyDeleteOoooh! Two for the challenge. Nice! I love "Rain turned a cold shoulder" and so many other lines, as well. I also like the mystery of your second poem and how it could be read across stanzas to create a fourth poem. That's so hard to do! Thanks for a great challenge!
ReplyDeleteLinda, so impressed with your TWO triptychs! Go ahead with your bad self. I love that we have a wintry mix and a shivering flame. You are taking us everywhere xo
ReplyDeleteYour poems benefit from subtle additions via differing inspiration. You sprinkled a little extra magic over the Triptych form to put your stamp on the poems that emerged. I enjoyed where you took me as a reader. Thank you, Linda. I enjoyed my visit immensely.
ReplyDeleteHoly cow! You did this twice!! Brava! I love how the fourth poem illuminates the story behind each stanza.
ReplyDeleteThese are wonderful, Linda! I always want to "hunker down/until spring thaw"!
ReplyDeleteHoly WOW did you ever bring your A game to this challenge! I tried one of the side-by-side ones, but to no avail. You did my clunker proud (and made me long for wool sweaters and freezing rain, of all things!) but the Egypt sequence is just amazing. Stunning. Standing ovation with wild applause!
ReplyDeleteLinda, These are amazing. I've never played with this form before but I'd say you nailed it. Thanks. ~ Carol Labuzzetta ~ (google has me signed in as other than my blog)
ReplyDeleteLinda, I love how versatile you are as a poet! I'm also particularly fond of "drink the dark" and all things Egypt. Thank you! xo
ReplyDeleteWow! What a challenging form and you handle it so masterfully, Linda. The last phrase, "flame shivers" really resonates for me.
ReplyDelete