Friday, November 01, 2019

Poetry Sisters Write Villanelles

This month Tanita set the challenge to write a villanelle on a wintry topic. We had the added requirement of including a pair of words (or homonyms thereof) from the following eleven: bleak, draft, gutter, chill, chime, glitter, gust, harsh, rime, nip, thaw.

The villanelle is a nineteen-line poem with two repeating rhymes and two refrains. It is made up of five tercets and a quatrain. The rhyme scheme is aba aba aba aba aba abaa. The 1st and 3rd lines from the first stanza are alternately repeated so that the 1st line becomes the last line in the second stanza, and the 3rd line becomes the last line in the third stanza and so on. The last two lines of the poem are lines 1 and 3 respectively.

As much as I love winter, I tend to get the blues from December through  February. I started thinking about the coming season, the snow projections (more than usual for VA), the prospect of indoor recess, the early placement of Christmas items (before Halloween!), and a number of other ideas. Once I started writing, I realized I'd chosen an odd end word for the "a" rhyme, which made choosing words a bit challenging, but the poem finally came together. Here's what I came up  with.

December's Discontent

December’s onset brings a discontent
a case of blues that lingers into spring
when winter’s snow and chill will not relent

Short days a coda to the heart’s lament
it’s fall’s crisp days to which we madly cling
when December brings a discontent

As autumn turns to winter we resent
the doldrums of the months that clip our wings
when winter’s snow and chill will not relent

The house is bleak, the family in dissent
for cabin fever leads to arguing
December’s onset brings a discontent

Time outdoors brings nothing but torment
as ice and wind assault the cheeks and sting
when winter’s snow and chill will not relent

But we'll hunker by the fire, breathe in its scent
and dream of early thaw and blossoms crowning
December’s onset brings a discontent
when winter’s snow and chill will not relent

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2019. All rights reserved.

You can read the poems written by my poetry sisters at the links below. Kelly and Andi are both on  the mend, so we'll welcome their  return  when  they're both feeling better.
I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by  Tabatha  Yeatts at The  Opposite of Indifference. Happy poetry Friday friends!

7 comments:

  1. Aw, you said your was grim! Not grim, realistic. And a tiny bit funny, too, in that way which invites us to groan and nod agreement. I like it.

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  2. You wrote it well, Tricia, and we in Colorado certainly received a 'taste' this week. Mostly winter here is cold with the snow staying in the mountains for happy skiiers, but there are those days "when winter’s snow and chill will not relent". Your rhyming worked beautifully!

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  3. Although we don't really get much snow here where I live, we get never ending rain. Your poem resonates deeply with how I feel. We are lucky to have those few sunshine days where the denizens of our city emerge out wearing only sweaters and smiles.

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  4. You capture the bleak side of winter perfectly. By February I may be agreeing with you--especially as I long for more daylight.

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  5. I like your "-ent" rhymes -- picking something challenging worked out well. "Blossoms crowning" is lovely, too.

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  6. This makes discontent almost elegant, Tricia! I'm going to tuck this away for when I'm my grumpiest about dark short days, and try instead to dream of "blossoms crowning."

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  7. I love winter, but MN winters are indeed sometimes relentless, and your poem stirred that restless feeling inside me. Oh, and the stinging cheeks! I HATE the stinging cheeks, when the ice is flying like needles...

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