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Friday, December 04, 2009

Poetry Friday - Villanelles All Around

I belong to the most amazing online collective of poets. You may remember the crown sonnet we collaborated on and debuted in April of 2008. We tried working through the writing of a sestina with a shared set of words, but that form was really challenging. Ever persistent, Liz Garton Scanlon sent us this note on October 26th.
OK, gals. This may be flat-out nuts, but I miss you guys and want to hang out.
Reading the villanelle that Sara posted on Friday reminded me that I really, really, really love villanelles.
And since our sestinas are so challenging -- and not done -- I'm thinking....

(yes, drum roll please)

(no, come back)

(seriously, you guys... don't go... just hear me out...)

We each do a villanelle.
In one of our repeating lines we use the word thanksgiving, in the other repeating line we use the word friend.
No other rules, no other similarities. Just those two things.
And we post them the week AFTER Thanksgiving -- on Poetry Friday -- December 4th.

I know that's really soon, but what the heck?

Gauntlet thrown.
With love and admiration...
For just a moment, imagine this woman as a drill sergeant--a kind one. She's inspiring AND makes you want to work. So, I played along. As with the crown sonnet project, I'd never written a villanelle before (at least not a successful or complete one). I began in typical Type-A fashion with a worksheet. For me, filling in the blanks was the easiest way to dive in. I'll also admit to starting with the last two lines (lines 1 and 3 in the first stanza) first. I wanted to make sure they worked together before rushing headlong into the rest of the poem. In the end, I wrote a few pieces. One didn't meet the requirements of the assignment, but it did work for David Harrison's word of the month challenge, so I revised and posted it to his blog.

Here's my villanelle. It still doesn't follow the rules exactly, but I like it just the same.
Dear friends, Thanksgiving!
For glorious oaks and sprawling trees
in winter, summer, fall and spring

For all things green and lush and living
that dance so lightly in the breeze
dear friends, Thanksgiving!

For spiders spinning webs of string
while swinging and dangling on a trapeze
through winter, summer, fall and spring

For sunflowers bold and bright and smiling,
climbing skyward with grace and ease
dear friends, Thanksgiving!

For birds that chirp and peep and sing
while visiting blossoms with bumblebees
through winter, summer, fall and spring

For poems, prose and words that sing
of beauty that brings us to our knees
Dear friends, Thanksgiving
in winter, summer, fall and spring!
My poetry sisters are sharing their poems today as well. Be sure to stop by and see how they used the words Thanksgiving and friends in the form of a villanelle.
The round up is being hosted by Elaine Magliaro at Wild Rose Reader. Do stop by and take in all the great poetry being shared. Before you go, be sure to check out this week's poetry stretch results. Happy poetry Friday all!

12 comments:

  1. Hi Tricia!

    Enjoyed the stroll through your village of the Villanelle. Here's one for you about Van Gogh:

    A VILLANELLE FOR VAN GOGH

    You saw beyond the blue that filled your eye
    And like a child lost in evening prayer,
    You brushed against the stars as you passed by.

    You spun nocturnal truths out of the sky
    In waves of rolling flame upon the air.
    You saw beyond the blue that filled your eye.

    Your steeple still transcends the hills that try
    To touch the golden dreams that held you there.
    You brushed against the stars as you passed by.

    You searched the other side where shadows lie
    In swirling pools of night upon your stare.
    You saw beyond the blue that filled your eye.

    But Theo and Gachet could only try
    To pull you from the depths of your own glare.
    You brushed against the stars as you passed by.

    Your final stroke fell on a canvas sky
    Where dreams once prayed upon the evening air.
    You saw beyond the blue that filled your eye.
    You brushed against the stars as you passed by.


    ©2009 Charles Ghigna

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  2. Oh, how I wish I could stay home from work, stay in my jammies, drink endless cups of tea, and have a leisurely read of all the villanelles (and all the other Poetry Friday offerings)!!! Alas, I'll be back later today, but more likely, tomorrow morning!! Thank you, Poetry Sisters, in advance, for this fabulous December 4th gift of poetry!

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  3. Wonderful, Tricia! Such fantastic images here. My favorite is:

    For spiders spinning webs of string
    while swinging and dangling on a trapeze
    through winter, summer, fall and spring


    Yay!

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  4. Charles, what a gorgeous Van Gogh villanelle. This gave me the same kind of melancholy, but lovely, feeling that Don McLean's song Vincent (or maybe it's Starry, Starry Night) does.

    Favorite lines:

    You brushed against the stars as you passed by.

    You spun nocturnal truths out of the sky
    In waves of rolling flame upon the air.

    Thanks for sharing this.

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  5. Tricia... What is amazing to me is that your mind contains both the order to build poetry worksheets and the space to create loving and lyrical poetry. Sheesh, girl. Some people really get doled out all the good stuff!

    I love your villanelle so much and, especially, this:

    For poems, prose and words that sing
    of beauty that brings us to our knees

    Oh, yes yes yes indeed.
    Thank you, Tricia. Thank you, thank you...

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  6. Dude. Your villanelle does SO follow the rules. Because (as I posted yesterday) there is no particular required meter for this form. It started in English in the 19th-century without a required meter, but usually ended up in iambic tetrameter then, fell out of favor and reappeared in the early 20th century - still with no required meter - but typically in iambic pentameter. That you went with a different meter doesn't mean you aren't following the rules, although you could say you're not following the norm, if you wanted to feel particularly wayward.

    I love that your poem feels like a psalm or a hymn or a prayer - it is marvelous.

    For poems, prose and words that sing
    of beauty that brings us to our knees
    Dear friends, Thanksgiving
    in winter, summer, fall and spring!


    After reading your poem, I find myself reciting Miss Dickinson's "in the name of the bee. And of the butterfly. And of the breeze, amen."

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  7. Now, that just made me happy.

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  8. Thank you a million times for that worksheet! It's the only way I got mine done. Really.

    My favorite line of yours:

    "For all things green and lush and living
    that dance so lightly in the breeze
    dear friends, Thanksgiving!"

    I am going to be singing this one! Reading it over again, it brings tears to my eyes. Thank you.

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  9. It is such a lovely, inspired hymn. I really like this one.

    Sigh!

    (And OH, Father Goose! Beautiful, beautiful.)

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  10. Tricia, this is such a lovely poem, a psalm to poetry and friends.

    I love it all, and like Jules said, just reading it makes me happy. But I really like,

    "For poems, prose and words that sing
    of beauty that brings us to our knees"

    You poetry sisters make me want so much more....and I mean that in a good way.

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  11. "For all things green and lush and living" YES! Your poem makes me want to run out and do something crazy, like kiss the world! What a celebration.

    And thank you, thank you, again for your worksheet. It was the rock under my feet as I wrote.

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  12. Yours is very lyrical and celebratory -- uplifting energy. I can see wandering minstrels playing it hither and yon. :)

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