The challenge this month was to write in the form of the dansa. We took our cues about the form at Writer's Digest. I had trouble starting this one, so I did a little more digging into the form to see if there might be some other ways to approach it. I found the explanation at Poetry Magnum Opus to be particularly helpful because it showed related forms.
The dansa is a poem generally written in 3 stanzas with a refrain at the end of each stanza. The first stanza is a quintain, while the rest are quatrains. While there is no set meter, these poems as originally conceived were written in lines of 6 or 7 syllables. The rhyme scheme is AbbaA/bbaA/bbaA, where A is the refrain.
As you might guess from the name, the dansa was actually a poem set to music meant for joyful dancing. I found the joyful part hard to come by. Every poem I attempted turned to some heavy topic, even if it didn't start there. Nothing worked. I finally gave up on all the ideas I tried out when our group met on Zoom this week and decided to look for a line of poetry to use as my refrain. This actually yielded a lot of good ideas. Ultimately, I turned to Emily for inspiration and used a line from the poem Forever – is composed of Nows – (690).
Forever is Composed of Nows
Forever is composed of nows
Seize the day, be brave and try
Do some things that terrify
Sheer a sheep, milk some cows
Forever is composed of nows
Take a lesson, learn to fly
Join a contest eating pie
Climb a live oak’s beckoning boughs
Forever is composed of nows
Sing your child a lullaby
Find a church and testify
Dance on tables, raise eyebrows
Forever is composed of nows
Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2022. All rights reserved.
- Tanita Davis
- Mary Lee Hahn
- Sara Lewis Holmes
- Kelly Ramsdell
- Laura Purdie Salas
- Liz Garton Scanlon
- Andi Sibley
You're invited to our challenge in the month of November! Here's the scoop: we're creating recipe poems! Your choice of form, length, meter, or topic, but each poem will be an assemblage of elements, using recipe text/cooking instructions to create …something. From a recipe for disaster, to your favorite aperitif, you have a month to craft your creation and serve it forth on November 25th 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 Jone Rush MacCulloch. Happy poetry Friday friends!
You managed to find joy and impart good advice for reaching out and grabbing life by the...udder? branch? piecrust? So much fun!
ReplyDeleteall of the above, plus write as much poetry as possible = joyfulness in the now and forever. Good work getting to a subject you connected with.
ReplyDeleteI like that you found Emily's line & then turned this into something we may all need, Tricia. Well done!
ReplyDeleteMy gosh, look at you! First, kudos for roping in Emily for the necessary inspiration, and then just turning it into a real dance. I LOVE this so, so much.
ReplyDeleteTrisha, your dansa is full of joy and the messages in your poem are inspiring. I enjoyed your poem that flowed nicely.
ReplyDeleteOooh, that line should be embroidered on a pillow! And your ending--"Dance on tables, raise eyebrows
ReplyDeleteForever is composed of nows" YES. You took Emily and partnered her beautifully!
Trisha - LOVE this... so upbeat! And the refrain so perfect. Thanks for including the dansa explanation. I'll put it on my list of "to try".
ReplyDeleteThis poem rocks! I love the Emily line, but my favorite are the ones that end in "eye" sounds, terrify, eat pie, and testify! Such fun word choices.
ReplyDeleteI'm in for a recipe poem! And, I cannot tell at all that you had a hard time getting started. The urgency of "nows" is so much of what I've felt after the passing of my mom. I don't want to waste a second. It's a lovely and fun poem. Well done.
ReplyDeleteAh, the belle of Amherst always inspires! Love the encouragement of your poem — make a "now" happen!
ReplyDeleteLOVE this poem--the refrains is so inspiring.
ReplyDeleteI was too intimidated to try a dansa myself, so I was encouraged by your success. Maybe I'll give one a try myself. :-)