This month the Poetry Seven crew wrote in the form of the tritina. The tritina is composed of 3 tercets and a final line (envoi) that stands alone. Similar to a sestina, though shorter, it uses a set of 3 alternating end words instead of six. The form is: ABC / CAB / BCA / A, B, and C (final line/envoi).
The words we chose from were selected by Tanita. They were:
sweet, cold, stone, hope, mouth, thread
I think repeating words are hard, so this took some thought. However, it was the final line using all three words at once that proved to be the real challenge. I wrote two poems for this form. The first is a bit melancholy, but that always happens to me at this time of the year. My father’s birthday was yesterday (the 5th). He would have been 90 this year. And tomorrow (the 7th) is the 7th anniversary of his death, so he’s been much on my mind as of late. Therefore, the first poem is for/about him. The second is much lighter.
Without further ado, my tritinas.
Tritina #1
My father pulled the hook from the mouth
of the bass. I touched its cold
scales, the thrill of catching it sweet.
Memories of my father are sweet,
though sometimes I imagine him, mouth
agape, my mother at his side touching his cold
hands. At the end, the world went cold.
There was nothing sweet
in death. My heart and mouth
slammed shut. Now I fish alone--no dad, no largemouth--just cold, sweet stillness.
Tritina #2
Speed Dating Introduction ... A 30-Second Tritina
I relish the smoothness of a stone
worn by water, the sweet
smell of freshly mown grass, the cold
slide of ice cream down my throat. I long for winter cold,
summer sun, the skipping of a stone
across the lake, that first buttery taste of sweet
corn. I believe in the sweet
hereafter, going cold
turkey, that some things are set in stone.
I’m stone cold sober, so lay some sweet lines on me.
Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2016. All rights reserved.
You can read the poems written by my Poetry Seven compatriots at the links below.
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A teacher educator discusses children's literature and issues related to teaching children and their future teachers.
By: Tricia,
on 5/5/2016
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A teacher educator discusses children's literature and issues related to teaching children and their future teachers.
By: Tricia,
on 5/5/2016
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