The Bragi (redux), 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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Nostra culpa!

On our first-ever attempt to compose bragis, we misread the instructions for this particular poetic form… Both of our respective 1^st stanzas were syllabically correct (6/8/10/10/8/6); but we failed to note that the 2^nd bragi stanza should be: 10/8/6/6/8/10…

As such, we have both rewritten the 2^nd stanzas of our respective bragis with the correct syllable count! Our original, beautifully flawed bragis can be found HERE.

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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 wondrous stories 
Casting magic spells sublime 
I leaf through, flowing free
I find I forget I am me
One leaf falls; one turns on its spine
Books ~ May their incredible 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.

Though most of my teachers took great offense
At perceived impudence and sass,
Magic scrolls arabesque...
Swashbucklers picaresque...
These consumed the days of my past ~
And have enchanted me 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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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!