The Lira, 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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X (wildcard): Lira

David’s Lira

Set self as your intention
Weave doing through being in personal ways
Grant all care and attention
Scattered puzzle pieces lie throughout your days
Weave doing through being in personal ways

Sangeetha’s Lira

Reach within, you'll discover
You are infinity wrapped in precious light
In each intention, stay pure
Be true to yourself, shine bright
You are infinity wrapped in precious light

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Lira?

• stanzaic: popularly written in one or a short number of cinquains; 
• syllabic: the lines are usually in a fixed pattern of Italianate lines, (7 and 11 syllables). The last line of the stanza is always 11 syllables. The first stanza establishes the fixed pattern;
• often written with L2 repeated as L5;
• rhymed, often using only consonant rhyme. The most common rhyme scheme is aBabB.

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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!