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Three Sevenlings *

Posted September 25th, 2007 by Donner

With an absentminded motion

With an absentminded motion he combs back
loose strands behind her ear, then leaves
her side to flush away the wine.

Lightning always cracks apart the sky
before the rain cards the clouds
and trails down the rifts of dead-grey

hills. This storm was wasted on sand.

October 2006

* * * * *

Every snapshot of the two of you radiates your company

Every snapshot of the two of you radiates your company:
step matched for step on a hike, tans blended by the cruise
ship's pool, line dancing at your niece's wedding.

None of that beaming was in evidence the morning
she stopped by and, seeing a purse that wasn't one of hers
through the kitchen window, burst into your bedroom.

Why should she be shocked; it wasn't her first betrayal.

April 2007

* * * * *

I talk to the dog about my test

I talk to the dog about my test
results, the details of blood work
and biopsies and ultrasound exams

while the husband pours over the sports page,
clicks up the tv volume, surfs the channel
offerings. I have his rapt attention

as long as I scratch behind his ears.

April 2007

* * * * *

I love the discipline that a form affords a poem. There's something very comforting in knowing the boundries that fence in your roaming - the basic 14 lines of iambic pentameter requirement for a sonnet, for instance. Not that I'd claim mine are exemplary examples of the sevenling, heh, but the form is a fun challenge indeed.

* The rules for the sevenling are:

  • The first three lines should contain an element of three - three connected or contrasting statements, or a list of three details, names or possibilities. This can take up all of the three lines or be contained anywhere within them.
  • Then, lines four to six should similarly contain an element of three, connected directly or indirectly or not at all.
  • The seventh line should act as a narrative summary or punchline or as an unusual juxtaposition.

    It isn’t a strict form. There are no set metrical rules, but being such as short form, some rhythm, metre or rhyme is desirable. To give the form a recognisable shape, it should be set out in two stanzas of three lines, with a solitary seventh, last line. Titles are not required. A sevenling should be titled Sevenling followed by the first few words in parentheses

    The tone of the sevenling should be mysterious, offbeat or disturbing, giving a feeling that only part of the story is being told. The poem should have a certain ambience which invites guesswork from the reader.

    From http://www.everypoet.org/pffa/showthread.php?t=49468, the credit going to Rob (romac1)

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