The Yester, 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 ‘Y’, David created the ‘Yester’ form.

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Y: Yester

David’s Yester

Never thought I'd vote for the Communists; but I did;
Arrogantly, the Opposition parties never did get their act together;
Each arrogantly prioritizing its own success, together abdicating responsibility;
Their lack of responsibility brought ruin ~ I blame each one,
For one could have easily predicted their collective collapse;
Concerned for Israel, hoping our society wouldn't collapse, I voted
But voted in vain ~ politicians more concerned with gaining power;
Today, naught remains but the power of protest.

Sangeetha’s Yester

I wanted to vote for equality 
For I think equality weighs us the same;
The same value for the colour of my skin
As what's under the skin ~ red blood we all exchange
We could then exchange greetings as friends
Stop being friends with guns...we could if we try
What if we stop seeing differences and try finding peace
Isn't the price of peace worth what we're living for?
But equality isn't an option for me to vote.

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Yester?

• Eight lines or more;
  • No more than ten words per line;
• L1 must reference a past event;
• Word repetition:
  • The first and last words of L1 must be included in L2;
  • The first and last words of L2 must be included in L3;
  • etc.

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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!