Poetry Sisters Write Sedoka

The challenge this month was to write sedoka. The sedoka is a Japanese poetic form that is an unrhymed poem made from a pair of katuata. A katuata is a three-line poem with the syllable count of 5 / 7 / 7. Generally, a sedoka addresses the same subject from different perspectives. Sometimes the first stanza asks a question, and the second stanza answers it. Given our theme of "in conversation," this form was a good choice for this year. 

I tried a lot of topics before I settled on fireflies (I love sitting outside on summer nights watching them) and secrets. Here are my poems.

Fireflies Version 1

Flickers in the dusk—

do they dance to call the stars

or to keep darkness at bay?

Each light holds a song

brief as breath and just as bright

meant for one who understands.

Fireflies Version 2

Why do fireflies glow

in the hush of summer fields

whispering through blades of grass?

They carry twilight—

tiny lanterns of longing

searching for a name in light.

Secrets Version 1

Where do whispers go

when they slip between closed lips

heavier than spoken words?

They sink in the dark

curling into hidden rooms

soft as breath behind a door.

Secrets Version 2

Why do secrets burn

even when they are not told

coiled quiet beneath the skin?

They are living things—

shadows that forget to sleep

feeding on the fear of light.

Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2025. All rights reserved.

You can read the poems my Poetry Sisters have written at the links below. A few folks are traveling this month, but they may pop up later with a poem.

• Tanita Davis
• Mary Lee Hahn
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon

Would you like to try the next challenge? We're talking back to this poem by Nikki Giovanni. You’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on August 29th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems! 

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Marcie Flinchum Atkins. Happy poetry Friday all!

Poetry Friday - Protest Triolet

This week, the Inklings are writing poems of protest for our nation’s birthday. The challenge was to"write in praise of democracy and patriotism if you’re so moved, or write in frustration and befuddlement over the “leadership” in the White House and/or Congress and/or the courts and/or and/or and/or." 

I'm quite fond of the triolet, so that's the form my poem takes today. A triolet is an 8-line poem that uses only two rhymes throughout. Additionally, the first line is repeated in the fourth and seventh lines, while the second line is repeated in the final 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).

My protest triolet is untitled.

Rise up, voices strong and clear
in streets where silence echoes long
for every right we hold so dear,
rise up, voices strong and clear.
With armored courage, persevere
against the tide of all that’s wrong,
raise our voices strong and clear
in streets where silence echoes long.

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2025. All rights reserved.

Image: Harris & Ewing, W. (1917) Mary Winsor Penn. '17 holding Suffrage Prisoners banner. United States, Washington D.C, 1917. [Oct.-Nov] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/mnwp000225/.

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading. Happy poetry Friday all!