Today, we delve into a little more familiar form, the Etheree. Created about twenty years ago by an Arkansas poet named Etheree Taylor Armstrong, this titled form, consists of ten lines of unmetered and unrhymed verse, the first line having one syllable, each succeeding line adding a syllable, with the total syllable count being fifty-five.
Marie’s Etheree:
Comprehensively Incomprehensible
Row
Mix-up
Confusion
Disagreement
Misunderstanding
Misinterpretation
Difference of opinion
Speaking a "different language"
Powerless to convey one’s intent
Complete collapse in communication
Walt’s Etheree:
STRETCHED THINDad.
A man
standing guard.
Despite efforts
to be fair and firm,
sometimes he folds under
the pressure. Bright hazel eyes
flash their semaphore to signal
the next barrage to a Father's heart.
Daughters in tug of war for Dad's favor.
Poor Papa. *grin*
ReplyDeleteand Marie. sorry.
I love that "Etheree" is an actual name. Trying to imagine it paired with some of the stranger family names I've come across.
Think
ReplyDeleteponder
contemplate
or evaluate
while I cogitate.
The facts are always up
for debate. Don't relinquish
your power or lay down, play dead.
Get informed, form an opinion and
be heard. A voice of truth, reason, and worth.
Love the etheree! Will try to write another one, but for now, here's one I wrote about a month ago:
ReplyDeleteConch Shell
Pink
spirals
out to pink
tinged with coral,
sanded in beachtones-
treasure chest of sea-sounds,
surf and sand sealed in its spire,
pearl of the deep, vessel cradling
Neptunian strains, bottled message,
each conch shell a beachcomber’s pandora.*
*Beyond the traditional meaning of "pandora," which refers to the mythological creature who opened the forbidden box of evil, the word can also refer to a handsome fish that lives off the Mediterranean coast (Pagellus erythrinus), a mollusc (genus Pandora) the lives on sandy beaches, or a stringed musical instrument (from the word "bandore").
Great form, guys. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteEthereal
Muse.
Mermaid.
Wave-logged waif
weaving finned phrase
leaving long lines loosed
into chanced, entranced breeze.
Please, just this once, won’t you come
to dry land, find solace in sand
whisper to hungry ears, aching pen.
Surely your toes can love this road once mine.
Twister
ReplyDeleteBirds
Singing
Clouds dipping
Trash cans argue
As a freight train grinds
Out of the green south west
Distant banshees slash the air
Wild eyed at the scent of our fear
Framed in the doorway, I turn my head
But a tiny hand pulls me back downstairs.
Smack
ReplyDeleteWords bite
Without thought
Tossed through the air
Waves of despair crash
I watch from the sidelines
A tsunami of anger
Amazed at the mind-boggling gall
Until I respond misunderstood
Silenced, I cower back into my shell
“Doppelganger”
ReplyDeleteA
Stranger
Strolls in, and
Plops himself down
In your favorite
Recliner, props his feet
On your wife’s coffee table.
Smirking at you with your own face.
Your voice, not yours, snags onto your brain,
“Now how long do you plan to be content?”
*based on Shelley's supposed encounter with his doppelganger just before his death.
Dad,
ReplyDeleteI wish
I could be
with you right now,
sit and hold your hand
instead of sitting here
clutching my own in prayer,
waiting for word and wondering
if I will get to see you again,
but oceans, deep as our love, divide us.
If anyone has trouble with a word and needs to check the syllable count, I found this tool.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.howmanysyllables.com/index.html
Oh, Linda. Just beautiful. I am praying for you and your dad, so much.
ReplyDeleteNice work, Elizabeth.I love this line: pearl of the deep, vessel cradling Neptunian strains...
ReplyDeleteThanks, De.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, your etheree is perfect for this form :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, Linda ... my heart and prayers are with you. How beautifully you've captured your love for your dad, and the emotional turmoil you feel. My heart hurts for you! May your dad feel God's presence in an unmistakable way.
ReplyDeleteQuiet,
ReplyDeleteWhite wine,
Tall green trees:
A fine setting
For my head clearing.
Now to refill my brain
With the beautiful musings
Of a fabulously rich book.
I am simply in a brief heaven
Of my own and the author's creation.
Thanks, Marie Elena. It is 1:30 AM in Germany and, needless to say, I am having a bit of difficulty sleeping. Poetic Bloomings is usually a stimulus for my muse but tonight it is also a much needed distraction. Ironically, I already had a flight reserved for Saturday, but that just isn't soon enough anymore. :-(
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful you're able to find solace in our little site, Linda. Poetry (both reading and writing) seems to help ease the mind.
ReplyDeleteA-HA!
ReplyDeleteHe
glanced my
direction.
He drew me in;
charmed me with banter
as I fumbled my words.
His confidence, alluring.
My shyness mesmerized him too.
Our opposing styles were attractive.
Unfortunately it wasn’t enough.
2011-07-27
P. Wanken
*For those who travel the prompt sites, you may recognize a few prompts contained in this one. ;)
~Paula
Linda, my heart aches for you. May God grant peace and comfort to your heart and mind.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of this form before but enjoyed trying it! Here's my link:
ReplyDeletehttp://lolamousedroppings.blogspot.com/2011/07/always.html
Poetry
ReplyDeleteWord
passing
through my mind
sparks idea
bright inspiration
slipping through my fingers
before I can gather it
encapsulate the germ of it
into coherence, understand its
evanescence impossible to hold
seek the transformation into poem
translate transience into moment
undeviating on the page
concrete language to outlast
immediacy of now
with enduring terms
of loveliness
eternal
constant
truth.
I
ReplyDeletewaited
for your new
album. Wanting
to fall head over
heels, but dissappointment
is all I find in your rhyme
and cliched lines. Words take up space
but meaning was replaced by bouncy
beats; commercial flare that takes me nowhere.
Cliche,
ReplyDeletebut true.
One girl and
one boy; unique
entities merged to
become one. Parallel
lives established with "I do."
Side-by-side, with a transversal
or intersecting line, hoping to
avoid complete perpendicular loss.
I started writing this for another prompt, but it kicked and screamed until it had its way as an etheree:
ReplyDeleteRipe
yellow
banana,
my nemesis
of pubescent years,
who offended taste buds,
distressed my sense of smell,
quashed my appetite for dinner:
then suddenly, all defenses fade!
wonderstruck, I eat my first banana.
Ships
ReplyDeleteShips
sailing
opposite
directions may
pass in the ocean
without ever seeing
the other as they sail on.
They circumnavigate the globe
with a cargo hold full of treasures
and head toward separate destinations.
By Michael Grove
Thank you, Linda. Much strength and peace to you and your whole family in these days...
ReplyDeleteI ran across a prompt, at Poetry Jam, to write about oneself at 67. An irksomely short time away.
ReplyDeleteThey wanted non-rhymers to rhyme, but I figure that this is just as far from my comfort zone as rhyme, so here goes.
Etheree on my expectations for the age of 67
three
more years
and some months.
See me scowling?
That's sixty-seven
and the house is a mess.
The starving cats began
with a tentative nibble
just a taste of a little toe.
I was writing, and didn't notice.
Well, these things happen, what did I expect?
Linda, I'm wishing you strength and courage. Losing a parent is one of life's major traumas, and you have all my sympathy.
ReplyDeleteVivinfrance, he's hanging in there. Doc says he's lucky to be alive, and though he's not out of the woods yet he is awake. My dad is a fighter so I am counting on his strength. Fly out Saturday. Thanks for your kind words.
ReplyDeleteThanks also to Elizabeth and Andrew.
Some good work already posted. Shannon, I really enjoyed your first one about the new album. Vivinfrance, I like how you did a reverse etheree. Sort of like a reverse fibonacci.
Barbara, yours was sort of funny. Nibble, nibble.
Deep
ReplyDeleteHidden
Secreted
I know you’re there
I search intently
Delving diligently
Pursuing determinedly
Catching glimpses, spurring me on
Persistently peeling back layers
Surely I’ll not give up, I will find you.
Michael...I like how the shape of your poem looks like it could be attached to the mast of one of those ships you've written about! :)
ReplyDelete~Paula
A Lonely Path
ReplyDeleteShe
always
took paths that
were dangerous
normally alone
although rarely was she
lonesome walking through crooked
uneven dimly lit paths which
lead this unprepared traveller to
astounding and exillerating views.
Poem Form: Etheree. 10 lines; 1st line 1 syllable, 2nd line 2 syllables, etc.; total 55 syllables.
Linda, my prayers and thoughts to you, your father and your family. I hope that you're able to make it home to his side. My father passed away before I was able to get home. I live in the UK and he lived near Seattle. Hugs to you.
ReplyDeleteThat last line should read:
ReplyDeleteastounding and exhilarating views.
Burning Embers
ReplyDeleteWhite
curtains
of snowfall
freezing against
the icy window.
The chilled air racing its
way toward me, bracing cold,
chasing warmth and embracing heat
against its breast, thinking opposites
attract but they destroy, then recreate.
Never Forget
ReplyDeleteNever
forget
they are there,
every move
noted and checked,
one unguarded moment,
one foolish word out of turn
will be enough to make them act,
to appear suddenly in the night,
you will cease to exist, a forgotten name.