I'm copying a lot of this prompt from NaPoWriMo's site where they tell me they'd "...like to challenge you to write a landay. Landays are 22-syllable couplets, generally rhyming. The form comes from Afghanistan, where women often use it in verses that range from the sly and humorous to the deeply sardonic and melancholy. Check out this long investigative article on landays for a fascinating look into a form of poetry often composed in secret, and rarely written down. You could try to write a single landay – a hard-hitting couplet that shares some secret (or unspoken) truth, or you could try to write a poem that strings multiple landays together like stanzas (maybe something akin to a syllabic ghazal?)
I read the article referred to above. Sometimes I just have to shake my head in wonder at what other women in this world have to deal with. Sometimes I'm so amazed at how lucky I am.
NATURE WALK WITH GRANDSON, ZUCKERBURG ISLAND
Today we walked the trails around the island,
admitting our fears. His, spiders; mine, the snake.
We know it makes no sense, this recognition,
this frosting of bone that zaps the mind awake.
We become kinder to each other, wanting
to spare the details of some recent sighting.
He doesn't point out rustling grasses trailside
and I do not mention eight legs in the car.
§
1 comment:
A lovely, confiding poem. I think I will give that form a try as well. Great photo too although I cannot believe the little blond guy who sang so heartily: "Book, book, book, book! On-a, on-a Time!" is so tall and grown-up!
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