The Rainbow, or: Creativity forms verses

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 continued their journey together; 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 they go through the alphabet once more but in their new series, for every letter of the alphabet (A through Z), they would select not only a poetic form but also – a keyword for each poem.

Eventually, they completed their third series and decided to embark on a fourth towards the end of 2022. This time, taking turns, they would create their own poetic forms for every letter of the alphabet (A through Z), and exchange poems, as they’d done before.

For ‘R’, Sangeetha created the ‘Rainbow’ form.

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R: Rainbow

Sangeetha’s Rainbow

Valiant skies glow at sunset,
Illuminated for a grand talent show;
Birds, beguiled, fly in to watch too
Gently floating, as if in a dream; 
Young stars peep, and kisses they blow,
Oh how the heavens are blushing just a tinge;
Rare is such beauty, it must be said.

David’s Rainbow

Vexed at my color blindness, I soul-let;
Inside, dark grays overshadow my glow;
But all remedies I've tried I now rue;
Grimly, I see there's no hope in between;
Yesters felled anew with every morrow;
Once again, I prep mindstream for syringe;
Reflecting, "Life only lasts till one's dead."

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Rainbow?

• Seven lines:
  • L1 – Starts with the letter ‘V’; must contain the letters V,I,O,L,E,T; and ends with a word that rhymes with VIOLET;
  • L2 – INDIGO;
  • L3 – BLUE;
  • L4 – GREEN;
  • L5 – YELLOW;
  • L6 – ORANGE;
  • L7 – RED

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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!