A Triolet
She served as doctor in the War Parents, young brother in Ukraine Close-knit, her family of four She served as doctor in the War No one survived from her Before Her soul was crippled by the pain She served as doctor in the War Parents, young brother in Ukraine
d’Verse poetics: Grandmothers
This triolet is about my father’s mother, whom I only met as a preteen, after the USSR started falling apart in the late eighties. She was permanently traumatized by the Nazi’s total liquidation of her shtetl, including her parents and little brother, which she discovered upon returning home at the end of World War II.
I wrote it for today’s d’Verse prompt, which is to pen a grandmother-themed poem.
Triolet?
A Triolet is a poetic form consisting of only 8 lines. Within a Triolet, the 1st, 4th, and 7th lines repeat, and the 2nd and 8th lines do as well. The rhyme scheme is simple: ABaAabAB, capital letters representing the repeated lines.
Make writing a Triolet more challenging! Make each line 8 syllables in length (4 metrical feet), written in iambic tetrameter (the more common way), or try it in pentameter (English version) where each line only has 10 syllables (5 metrical feet).
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)
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The Skeptic's Kaddish ๐ฎ๐ฑ 
This is a sad one.
๐ข Molly ๐ข ~ yes ~ from my perspective, she was really more of a shell of a person than a relatable human being by the time I met her when I was ten-years-old or so.
War can do bad things to people that last their lives.
Itโs a heartwrenching history. May God grant your grandmother peace from all the trauma.
๐๐๐ป Cassa ๐๐ป๐
And I am reading a book “Not in God’s Name” by Jonathan Sacks which gives me insight of how the Jews became the scapegoat of difference nations’ internal conflict. A very educational book.
Wow! How did you come across it?
It’s recommended by a friend and was gifted at Christmas..
Nice ๐
Very sad, David. Life can be so tragic.
Real life is full of stories
The triolet might be my favorite form. When used to convey something of emotional weight, it somehow seems to bring that out better than any other form i know. Stellar stuff, my friend.
–Shay
๐ค๐๐ป Shay ๐๐ป๐ค ~ thanks! It’s interesting: lots of people feel the triolet feels unnatural.
Huh. That surprises me. I think it enhances, done properly.
Me too โ๏ธ
Very well written David, and a fitting tribute to a brave woman who suffered so much.
*hug*
thanks, Kim
Her soul was crippled by the pain…
This line ends up becoming the soul.
๐๐๐ป Reena ๐๐ป๐ ~ yes ๐
your chosen poetry form is so well chosen David- encapsulating all that cannot be said, but with that poignant repetition
๐๐๐ป Laura ๐๐ป๐ ~ to me, she was greatly defined by her loss and unavailable to me as a result
indeed โ we can barely fathom such experiences and the ensuing damage but you distilled the essence in this poem
โจ๏ธ๐๐ปโจ๏ธ
A heartfelt triolet, David. The repetition emphasises the grief.
๐งก๐๐ป Kim ๐๐ป๐งก
Such a heartfelt piece David .
๐๐๐ป Maggie ๐๐ป๐ ~ thanks!
๐Her soul was crippled by the pain๐
The soul, pure, powerful and peaceful
Reading my heart is struck and bleeds for the pain โ
She served as doctor
Parents, young brother in Ukraine โ
History and fate it is loud, the sound; pierces my ear.
Your Grandmom
Your Grandmom
Left behind
With the memories of her shetl
Too much pain and sorrow.
Just amazing how her story broke through in this form.
๐๐๐ป Abi ๐๐ป๐ ~ it’s a devastating story
I feel it
And you did a great job in stitch all this pain in these striking lines.
๐ฅฒ Abi ๐ฅฒ
๐ค
I can’t begin to understand the grief – the triolet is perfect with the repeating lines to reinforce the agony…
๐๐๐ป Muri ๐๐ป๐ ~ thank you
A brave woman, your grandmother
๐๐๐ป Sadje ๐๐ป๐ ~ yes, and never again fully present
Thatโs very understandable