Whispers' February Activity--The Form--Cinkqu

Dear Whispers’ Friends,

It is a pleasure to share with you this month’s activity column in a form called Cinqku.  These activities are a chance for our growing community to try something different.  It is not the goal to present perfect poetry but to enjoy each writer’s thoughts.  Fourteen writers have come together to share their poems for your reading pleasure.  Congratulations and thank you to all of them!

If you missed the deadline, I have the directions after the last poem. Feel free to share your poems in the comments section.  As we journey together, I hope you enjoy sharing and encouraging others.  Writing is a gift.

Blessings,

Karen O’Leary

Whispers’ Editor

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christmas

shopping but 

nothing for you;

I light a church candle

and weep

By Jack Horne

_________________

One more

grey morning

unfurling its

endlessly boring chores

again.

By Joan McNerney

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over

the stubble

carrion crows-

the game-keeper heads home

for tea

By Brian Strand

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Old dog

doesn’t ask for

much: a walk, warm

bed, chance to steal food from

Old cat.

By Kelley J. White

_________________

watching

the mist rise

above the ground –

the floating trees now drop

anchor

By Paul Callus

_________________

Fallen
maple tree
decayed throughout
poised on a branch a bird
singing

By Ralph Stott

_________________

why not

let bygones

be bygones now

life is too short to hold

grudges

By Charlene McCutcheon

_________________

the sea

buried him

with one big swoosh…

his sea chest rests, still shut,

at home

By Karen O’Leary

_________________

winter

fire burns

houses, bodies

what remain are souls, hearts,

drunk minds

By Ananya Dhawan

_________________

across

the valley

scent of roses-

how shall I not follow

his steps?

By Archana Kapoor Nagpal

_________________

outside

the phone wires

become a staff

the black notes of starlings

singing

By Mary Jo Balistreri

_________________

my dog

alerts me

her frenzied bark . . . 

hunkered beside the barn

bobcat

Elizabeth Howard

_________________

smiling
in your arms
is happiness
and my hand in yours is
blissful

By Melanie Antanesian

_________________

dozens

of footprints

meandering

through the snow, leading me

astray

By Robert P. Hansen

_________________

The Cinqku, a close analogue to both the Japanese haiku and the American Cinquain created by Adelaide Crapsey, was invented by Denis Garrison. Cinqku follows a strict 17 syllable count arranged in five present tense successive lines of 2-3-4-6-2 syllables written in haiku style with free diction and syntax and no metrical requirement. A prominent feature of Cinqku is the effective use of the line break and turn. Typically the first three lines represent the objective, proposition, or the question; then the last two lines are the “aha” moment or the “turn” in the poem. The turn is similar to the use of kireji in haiku or cinquain.