The Ziggurat, 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 ‘Z’, Sangeetha created the ‘Ziggurat’ form.

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Z: Ziggurat

Sangeetha’s Ziggurat

Here's news flash!
Rains flood street
Water table rises
Panic goes viral!
Fear grips whole wide world
Ground floor homes raise alarm
Boats await 'Evac! Evac!' orders
'Drain Rain' shouts power hyped media
 Human! Take cover from skies above!

David’s Ziggurat

"Daddy, this movie
seems quite deep;
brain might burst;
never sleep, ever!"
Child makes Daddy very crazy
with talk, moods, ideas, tears;
Daddy rues their movie pick.
Next time- don't watch late movie-
avoid major scene with such drama!

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Ziggurat?

• Only four or five letter words may be used;
• Nine lines with word counts per line:
  • L1-L4: three words;
  • L5-L7: five words;
  • L8-L9: six words;
• The poem should make a mountain out of a molehill;
• The poem should be centered.

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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!