The Balance, or: Form verses creativity

Sangeetha & David’s new poetry project

Once upon a time, two poets who’d never met in person spontaneously began writing verses back and forth to one another over the Internet. Their first poetry project took them some nine months: a 100 verse Hyakuin.

Once they’d completed their oeuvre, the two decided to continue their creative journey together; and Sangeetha came up with a fun new idea, which David loved – to explore different poetic forms together, working through the Alphabet from ‘A’ to ‘Z’.

Every week, for twenty-six weeks beginning in January of the year 2022, they would take turns selecting poetic forms beginning with the letter corresponding to that particular week (1=A, 2=B, etc., etc.) and write poems to one another using that form.

David suggested they call their new project ‘Form verses creativity’, and so it began.

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B for Balance

David’s Balance to Sangeetha

Hours of great fun on their small, red seesaw
How perfectly balanced, they two
Neither could quite descend
Lest the other
Pushed off ~
Both huffed
Their hearts astir
As legs straightened and bent
Suddenly ~ off flew one blue shoe
Up in the air, down on the sand, she saw
Her wild waving, distress, bare sock he saw
Good-natured, he knew what to do
Down to the ground he went
And pushed no more
Toes scuffed
Enough ~
He lowered her
Suddenly, both felt spent
The two's weekly playdate was through
Hours of great fun on their small, red seesaw

Sangeetha’s response to David

On the way back home, the two little friends
Chalked a few squares on the  pavement
And firmly decided
To play hopscotch
For fun
So one,
He jumped, she watched
Two, they both delighted
In balancing with amazement
Three, she hopped, her blue shoe flew off again
Still on one foot, they tried to make amends
And laughed at their predicament
Till cheeks turned cherry red
Their game was botched
Was done
So Run!
Said their one watch
Way past their time! They fled
Giggles lighting their merriment
On the way back home, the two little friends

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Balance?

• Stanzaic, framed in 4 cinquains. The patterns of the cinquains change from stanza to stanza;
• Syllabic:
  • Stanza 1 =10-8-6-4-2 syllables;
  • Stanza 2 =2-4-6-8-10 syllables;
  • Stanza 3 =10-8-6-4-2 syllables;
  • Stanza 4 = 2-4-6-8-10 syllables;
• Rhymed, rhyme scheme Abcde edcba abcde edcbA;
• Composed with a refrain, the 1st line of the poem is repeated as the last line;
• Centered on the page.

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Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!