The Bragi, or: Creativity verses form

Sangeetha & David’s new poetry project

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

Once they’d completed their first oeuvre, they decided to continue their journey together; and Sangeetha came up with a fun idea. Beginning in January ’22, they took turns selecting poetic forms beginning with the letters of the alphabet (A through Z) and wrote poems to one another using those forms.

Upon completing that second project, Sangeetha suggested that they go through the alphabet once more, this time with an addition twist… In their new series, for every letter of the alphabet (A through Z), the two would select not only a poetic form but also – a keyword for each poem.

For ‘B’, Sangeetha selected the ‘Bragi’ form and the keyword ‘Books’.

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B: Bragi

Sangeetha’s Bragi

I sit under a tree
turning pages yellowed with time
wandering worlds, witnessing histories
finding clues, unraveling mysteries
devouring sounds from every line
my book writes just for me

Imagination weaves 
magic spells wording tales sublime
I read... I find I forget I am me
beyondering from this life and this tree
one leaf falls; one turns on its spine
Books ~ may their tribe increase

David’s Bragi

Diving behind my desk,
I would swim in books during class;
Caught in a boy's fancies' opalescence;
Captivated by tangled plot twists tense
And each tortured, knotty impasse
With vile evils grotesque.

Most teachers took offense
At perceived impudence and sass;
But couldn't best magic scrolls arabesque,
Nor stories of swashbucklers picaresque;
Unevenly, time would churn past ~
Swirling through decades hence.

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Bragi?

• The bragi is stanzaic, written in 2 sixains. (12 lines);
• Syllabic: 6/8/10/10/8/6 // 10/8/6/6/8/10 syllables per line;
• Rhymed: rhyme scheme abccba cbaabc. (abccbacbaabc)

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Twiglet #285

Uneven time

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Eugi’s Weekly Prompt

Eugi has provided the word “opalescence” as a writing prompt.

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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!