Friday, December 31, 2021

Poetry Sisters Write About Bells

The last challenge of the year was to write about bells. I had a lot of grand ideas, many fits and starts, but kept coming back to one topic. When I was 12, my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer and came to live with us. I loved her dearly, but she was tough on my mom, who had married her only son. She complained about everything, and almost always claimed it was my mother's fault. My mother never complained about the less than kind treatment. She lost her patience only once, when surely she was on her last nerve every day. One of the things that drove my mother to drink (seriously, she went through a lot of Harvey's Bristol Cream in those days) was the bell my grandmother rang to get our attention. I remember quite clearly it disappearing after my grandmother's death. So, that's the bell I wrote about.

This poem is in the form of a Bob and Wheel. Here are the guidelines:

  • Quintain (or five-line) stanza or poem
  • Rhyme scheme of ababa
  • First line of two to three syllables
  • Lines two through five have six syllables per line

Here is my poem.
I've actually written a few poems about my grandmother. You can read them here:

Here's a photo of the two of us.

You can read the pieces written by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. 
Would you like to try the next challenge? Next month we are writing “poetry inspired by something overheard.” Susan Thomsen at Chicken Spaghetti has written these as a form of “found poem.” For an example, check out Susan's poem A Day Like Any Other: A Found Poem. We hope you'll join us. Are you in? Good! You’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on January 28th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems! 

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Carol Wilcox at Carol's Corner. Happy poetry Friday friends. May the coming year be a good one for you all. 

6 comments:

  1. I never heard of this form, but what a fun name and what a vivid darkly funny poem you created within it. I’m cringing just reading about that bell!

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  2. Wow, Bob and Wheel seems like the perfect form to write repeating concepts with -- and I remember your triolet as well - another good one for writing ...difficult people into poetry. I daresay YOUR grandma Mary and MY grandma Mary would've gotten along like... well, probably a literal house on fire, but they sound like they were a lot alike.

    I'm afraid your Grandma

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  3. I have loved seeing all of the different takes on Bell Poems. Your mother sounds like a saint!!!Like other commenters, I had never heard of the "bob and wheel," but this format intrigues me!

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  4. This is a new form to me, and I like it. It has a kind of tension that keeps you moving forward. I feel for your mom, caring for her mom-in-law, at the beck and call of that damned bell. This poem is a great reminder of what I DON'T want to be like (now or when I'm old!).

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  5. Ooof. Your grandma looks benign in the photo, but your poem clangs very uncomfortably, and such is the usually-cuddly grandparent experience of some of us. Thanks for the introduction to the bob and wheel--interested to try that soon! May your 2022 bring as much peace as possible, Tricia.

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  6. I'm curious about the form. Why did you choose that form for this poem? Or did you just pick a new form and go for it? Whatever the case, it all fits perfectly!

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