Unexpected Day

Today, an unexpected day.
I thought it would be wet
but no, despite a cloudy sky,
the cold edge of Winter’s breath,
it’s dry and an unassuming sun
placidly holds sway.

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Spring Englyn

Snowdrops now their dainty heads show, green stems
extend through cloak of snow.
Signs of Spring; we watch them grow.

Following soon come tulips fair, and bold
gold daffodils bloom where
now the ground is dark and bare.

The seasons are changing, the sun returns
and warms the earth, to shun
Winter’s grip; her battle won.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Whilst looking for something else on the Internet I came across the Englyn form. This is, I understand, an old Bardic poetic form and I thought it would be fun to try to write one. As you can see the form consists of  3-line stanzas. It is a syllable counting form with lines of 10, 6 and 7 syllables respectively. That’s the easy bit!

The rhyme pattern requires end rhymes of AAA. However, (and this is where it gets complicated) the end rhyme of the first line isn’t actually at the end; it can be one, two or three syllables in from the end and the sound of the syllables after the rhyming word are echoed at the beginning of the following line.

You will see I have cheated a bit here, my echoes are not exact, making use of near rhymes and slant rhymes – green stems/extend (Stanza 1),  returns/and warms (stanza 3) and missing out one element in stanza 2 – and bold/gold.

Twelfth Night

Twelfth night;
Wise Ones visit
to welcome the new-born
sun.

Time To Go

The leaves are turning;
time to go and find some sun,
holiday abroad!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I seem to have got in a bit of a muddle with my posts this week, I’m having trouble keeping track of what day it is. This is mainly because we are off tomorrow (Saturday) for an extended trip through France to Spain and back. I shall therefore be taking a break from blogging until late November. I hope to catch up with you all then. Sadly I shall miss the progress of Autumn, which is a season I love. No doubt all the trees will be nearly bare by the time I return and life will be a mad rush to get ready for Christmas.

Down At The Boat

An Elfje sequence:

Morning.
The marina
comes to life.
Calm waters belie increased
activity.

Martins
twittering, flittering
around the boats,
among the rigging, playing
catch.

Hardly
a breath
of wind, barely
a ripple disturbs the
water.

Decks
wet with
overnight dew. Drying
sun beams down, set
fair.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This Elfje Sequence has also been posted today on ‘Simply Elfje’ here.

Options

Today the day just can’t decide
what it wants to do.
Cloud, drizzle, wind or sun?
Checking all the options!

Broken Glass

Broken glass
beside the road
sparkles like diamonds
in the mid-morning sun.

At Last

At last a day
that’s dry and still.
The sun attempts
a watery smile.

Denial

The days lengthen,
the cold strengthens;
Winter in denial that
the return of the sun
has begun.

Encouragement

Overcast and humid.
A weak and watery sun
tries to break through.
Birds sing encouragement.