Poetry, stories, art, and music from the desk of Jezzie G, a writer without a label
The Bonny Swans
1994
New Age
Loreena McKennitt
New Age
Born: 17 February 1957, Manitoba, Canada
Nationality: Canadian
McKennitt is a singer-songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist best known for Celtic and Middle Eastern-influenced world music. She is also known for her refined soprano vocals. McKennitt has sold over 14 million albums worldwide
The Cinquain is a popular five-line stanza, derived from a very casual French form by Adelaide Crapsey. The five lines have a specific syllable count starting with a two-syllable line and each of the following three lines increasing by two syllables and the final line is two syllables. Many poets use iambic meter, but that is optional to the poet’s want. Terry’s example below explains the form
First two
And two make four
And two to four is six
And two and two to four is eight
The end.
Terry Clitheroe
Cinquain Chains
Many poets write their Cinquain chains without linking them, however it is possible to link them by using the last line of the first stanza for the first line of the next stanza and the last stanza linking back to the first by using the first line of the first stanza as the last line of the poem, as demonstrated by Lori Martin below.
Sunshine
sunshine
warm on my face
tilted to catch spring breeze
refreshing, uplifting after
winter
winter
ice drapes on roofs
frigid air, frozen breath
car won’t start, cloaked people scurry
cranky
cranky
suffocating
winter’s chill seizes heart
seasonal depression’s cure is
sunshine
Lori Martin
Cinquain Swirl
The Cinquain swirl takes the chain one step further with the first line becoming the link between the stanzas and a swirling effect is created, returning to the first line at the end of the poem. Again, Lori Martin nails this form with her example below.
Someday
“Someday”
he’ll say when asked
when we’ll be together;
impatient, discouraged,
vision short-sighted, heart can’t see
someday,
mythical time
where all hopes and dreams dwell
while future plans wrestle with Fate’s
someday
rides a rainbow
into happier thoughts
then dances a Passe doble
someday
I’ll find my smile,
my heart will stop aching,
life will be painted in pastels
someday
Lori Martin
I Don’t Know You Anymore
Album: Affirmation
Date: 1999
Genre: Pop
Savage Garden
Savage Garden were a pop duo consisting of Darren Hayes on vocals and Daniel Jones on instruments. The duo formed in 1993 in Brisbane, Australia, and achieved global success in the mid-1990s with hit singles including ‘I Want You’, ‘Truly Madly Deeply’, and ‘The Animal Song’. Savage Garden disbanded in 2001 with Hayes continuing as a solo artist
Bathers at Asnières
Form: Ballade Royale
Theme: Art
Subject: Bathers at Asnières by Georges Seurat
By the river working men play
Factory life, fading background
In the heat of a summer’s day
The river flows relaxation found
In echoes of watery sound
The mundane lost into mid-June
On a lazy, slow afternoon
Apathetic dreams come to play As the sun lingers on the ground Respite to end the working day By the river the fun is found Late shift picks up the deafening sound Spiralled smoke swirls across the June On a lazy, slow afternoon
As evening falls working men play
By flowing waters breaking ground
Dreary chores are done for the day
As evening falls free time is found
The ripples of chat now their sound
Such are the joys of sunny June
On a lazy, slow afternoon
On summer days there’s time to play Like children at an old fairground Making the most of a long day When nights are short their peace is found Midsummer madness calls its sound The solstice dance marks the mid-June On a lazy, slow afternoon
©JezzieGFarmer2022
Aromatic Fields
Form: Villanelle
Her echoed breaths of comfort are revealed
my lady lavender who soothes my dreams,
in this sweet-aromatic, purple field.
From golden age and royal scented shield,
her mystery beneath her eyes still gleams,
her echoed breaths of comfort are revealed
To lady lavender, my heart I yield,
with piquant oils and heady perfume streams,
in this sweet-aromatic, purple field.
With calming airs, her magic charm appealed,
evocative ideals, my soul redeems,
her echoed breaths of comfort are revealed.
Inhaling beauty, senses gently healed,
relaxing briefly veiled from worldly screams,
in this sweet-aromatic, purple field.
With lady lavender my spirit sealed,
her blesséd peace that comes from love's regimes,
her echoed breaths of comfort are revealed,
in this sweet-aromatic, purple field
©JGFarmer2009
The Accident
Form: Spanish Sestet
The shards of glass that stopped the fall
Are splintered out upon the ground
Except one in my heartbeat's sound
I'd heard the engine fade and stall
As spinning wheels then pulled away
And left me to my dying day.
A pool of scarlet slowly grows
Below my lifeless body here
No more shall my heart know of fear
For my soul danced into shadows
And left behind the taste of pain
Until it walks this way again.
I felt the road that burned my skin I felt the burn of gravel rash She had not seen me in her dash My eyes gazed up to wonder in Just what had she found not to like In words: Look left, look right, THINK BIKE!
©JGFarmer2013
Jezzie G 