Counting Between
"Here we are for another #TankaTuesday poetry challenge! Are you ready for a theme prompt? Sangeetha from Mindfills blog selected this month’s theme:"
The Nature of Lightning
I chose a Tetractys. The Tetractys is an invented* form of at least five lines with syllables 1/2/3/4/10. It may be written with more than one verse, inverting the syllable count. That's where I made my error. I wrote a Double Tetractys, 1/2/3/4/10/10/4/3/2/1, then instead of starting the next verse with 1, I started with 10 by mistake. So, this is not the Triple Tetractys I'd planned it to be. 
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| © Lisa Smith Nelson |
Bright
lightning
at midnight
divides the sky,
dazzling my bedroom as a summer noon.
My dog awakes and looks to me confused.
Too soon to rise.
Night returns.
He lays,
sighs.
I lay awake some hours more to listen
for the thunder,
and to count
seconds
'tween.
©2022 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved
* "Euclid, the mathematician of classical times, considered the number series 1, 2, 3, 4 to have mystical significance because its sum is 10, so he dignified it with a name of its own - Tetractys. The tetractys could be Britain's answer to the haiku. Its challenge is to express a complete thought, profound or comic, witty or wise, within the narrow compass of twenty syllables." - Ray Stebbing, inventor of the Tetractys.
#tankatuesday #tankatuesdayNo291 #syllabicpoetry #syllabicpoem #tetractys #tetractyspoetry #tetratyspoem #lightningpoetry #lightningpoem #natureofllightnigh
Well done, Lisa! Your Tetractys captures the visual and energetic qualities of lightning beautifully.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. :)
DeleteI like how the lightning injects itself into an ordinary night. Also like how you wrote about your dog's reaction to it.
ReplyDeleteWhen it's near, it's so bright. I remember camping and it was overhead. The rangers drove through the campground afterwards to check on everyone. My dog... when he hears or sees new experiences he looks at me for an explanation! I give him a vocabulary word. Really!
DeleteThank you. I do wish I'd paid attention to do it "right."
ReplyDelete