The Trianglet, or: Creativity verses form

Posted on by ben Alexander

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 ‘T’, Sangeetha selected the ‘Trianglet’ form and the keyword ‘Time’.

T: Trianglet

Sangeetha’s Trianglet

Time
ran wild
in wonder,
blind to reason,
till a memory
in infinity,
of a moment,
forever
beguiled
Time

David’s Trianglet

Time
Devours
Leisurely...
As it well knows
We live heedlessly,
Killing needlessly
For vain reward.
Why must we
waste our
Time?
David’s reading of both trianglets

Trianglet?

  • A decastich: a poem in 10 lines;
  • Syllabic: 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 syllables per line.
  • Rhymed: rhyme scheme AbcxddxcbA
  • First word repeated as last word.

Sangeetha & David’s ‘Creativity verses form’

  1. The Alliterisen (#alternatives)
  2. The Bragi (#books) [1st attempt]
  3. The Bragi (#books) [correct]
  4. The Cadae (#crisis)
  5. The Dodoitsu (#desire)
  6. The Emmett (#elves)
  7. The Fold (#friend)
  8. The Golda (#gravity)
  9. The Harrisham (#hope)
  10. The Inverted Refrain (#imagination)
  11. The Jram (#jubilee)
  12. The Kลel (#kismet)
  13. The Lai (#love)
  14. The Monometric (#motivation)
  15. The Nove Otto (#night)
  16. The Ovillejo (#origins)
  17. The Purely Hopeful (#poetry)
  18. The Quatern (#quiet)
  19. The Raay (#roots)
  20. The Septanelle (#smiles)
  21. The Trianglet (#time)
  22. The Ukiah (#underwear)
  23. The Violette (#vintage)
  24. The Whyquain (#wisdom)
  25. X (wildcard): The Eight-ette (#excuse)
  26. The Ya Hoo (#yes)
  27. The Zip (#zip)

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!

27 thoughts on “The Trianglet, or: Creativity verses form”

    1. โค Devine โค ~ thanks so much!

      Yep, my first name is ‘David’… The word ‘ben’ simply means ‘son of’ in Hebrew; and my father’s name was ‘Alexander’… I created this blog in his memory, you see.

      It’s confusing for a lot of people because ‘Ben’ is a popular name in English… So, I have to keep on explaining it to fellow bloggers ๐Ÿ˜‰

      Much love,
      David

  6. As I wrote to Sangeetha, these each have a unique flavor despite sharing theme and form!! One finds time wild to tame and the other time runs rampant never to be constrained…

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