NovPAD 2024 • 04 & 05
A Postcard From... • Landscape
This month’s theme: “Where I Am: Poems of Place”
11/04 • A Postcard From . . .
This form is a sort of Double Exposure – but that form typically calls for rhyming iambic pentameter and I used unrhymed lunes instead. The left side can be read as its own poem, the right side is another poem, and when merged line by line, they make a third poem. Indents in the image signify sentence breaks. You can read this in linear form below, in a footnote.1
(Backstory if it's helpful: our son was born the year my father-in-law died.)
11/05 Landscape
In April the mountain weeps—flowing tears run through her lashes.
Her wrinkles greet visitors—life spills down them carrying peace.
Does she cry for we who shelter in her embrace—or for joy?
This is a sijo – according to Writer’s Digest, the sijo is a lyrical Korean 3-line poem meant to be sung. Line 1 introduces the situation or theme of the poem. Line 2 develops the theme with more detail or a "turn" in argument. Line 3 presents a "twist" and conclusion. First half of the final line employs a "twist" of meaning, sound, or another poetic device.
To get the lyrical quality the syllables traditionally work like this:
Line 1: 3-4-4-4
Line 2: 3-4-4-4
Line 3: 3-5-4-3
—From the Vale—
we camped this summer
next to the
patch of sandy ground
where I met your kids
the first time
where I took the hand
of my future wife.
your grandson
is eleven now
a tall bookmark for
the half life
of sorrow’s slow fade.
•
—From Home—
I can see so much
beautiful
along the white path
unclear from close by.
I recall
right before my eyes
the beloved one
he who loves
treasured as fine gold.
measureless mercy
rising smoke
calling us throneward.
•
—From the Vale / From Home—
we camped this summer.
I can see so much
next to the
beautiful
patch of sandy ground
along the white path
where I met your kids
unclear from close by
the first time.
I recall
where I took the hand
right before my eyes
of my future wife
the beloved one.
your grandson
he who loves
is eleven now
treasured as fine gold
a tall bookmark for
measureless mercy.
the half life
rising smoke
of sorrow’s slow fade
calling us throneward.
Beautiful--especially "A Postcard From..." (all three ways).
Tåk for the footnotes 🤗. What a solemn form