The form I chose is the triolet. A triolet is an 8-line poem that uses only two rhymes throughout. The first line is repeated in the fourth and seventh lines, while the second line is repeated in the final (eighth) line. Because of this, only five different poetic lines are written. The rhyme scheme for a triolet is ABaAabAB (where capital letters stand for repeated lines).
And guess what? As I wrote several different drafts, I actually found a way to incorporate susurrus (or a form of it), although I feel like this poem needs a glossary. Anyway, gauntlet thrown, challenge accepted, and completed! Here's my triolet.
Into the Woods
How baleful the thick night wood
marked only by slivers of light
the wolf to my red riding hood
How baleful the thick night wood
its susurrations misunderstood
As owls awake and take flight
how baleful the thick night wood
marked only by slivers of light
You can read the pieces written by my Poetry Sisters at the links below.
- Tanita Davis
- Rebecca Holmes
- Sara Lewis Holmes
- Kelly Ramsdell
- Laura Purdie Salas
- Liz Garton Scanlon
- Andi Sibley
I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Karen Eastlund at Karen's Got a Blog. Happy poetry Friday friends!
Wow! It has a lovely hushed and yet alive vibe to it! (Also: I chuckled at how you ducked the word as "too hard" and then wound up writing an "easy" triolet...haha...Tricia, SUCH a poet thing to do....)
ReplyDeleteI wrote about Little Red, too! And Laura mentioned a cloak. Isn't it funny, the zeitgeist of imagery? But back to yours, this is AMAZING. I find triolets hard to do but you used the term susurrus AND put it in form like this. I'm humbled -- it's lovely. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteTricia... you nailed it! I love this poem, susurrus and all. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this! I can't wait to read Liz's (I already encountered the cloak in Laura's.) Thank you for including us in your challenge! Such fun!
ReplyDeleteI loved the use of the word baleful because it was unusual and a perfect choice for the dark wood and the repeat works so well. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteI'm DYING because all I heard was, "Nope, no way, no susurrus for me!" and now you're all baleful AAAAAAND susurrus, and slivers of night wood and all Gothic ans such. I LOVE it.
ReplyDeleteThis is so haunting and lovely! And I so love your gleeful, well-earned satisfaction!
ReplyDeleteExcellent Tricia, love your susurrations emanating from between your lines of that
ReplyDelete"baleful thick night wood." And I like your bit of ominousness in there too, thanks!
Wow! You get an A+ Love that line, "the wolf to my red riding hood." Layers of meaning there. Wonderful tone in this...I'm scared!
ReplyDeleteLove this poem and learning the word susurrus from the Poetry Sisters. Baleful is a wide open mouthful of a word, just perfect for the ominous image of the wolf!
ReplyDeleteBeautifully done, Tricia. That "its susurrations misunderstood" fills up with story all by itself! And it is fun that you managed the word itself.
ReplyDeleteTricia, I love how your poem starts off with the word baleful-such imagery! I marked my calendar with your July challenge. This sounds like fun.
ReplyDelete