Poetry Sisters Write Tritina

This month's challenge was to write in the form of the tritina. The tritina is composed of 3 tercets and a final line (envoi) that stands alone. Similar to a sestina, though shorter, it uses a set of 3 alternating end words instead of six. The form is: 123 / 312 / 231 / 1, 2, 3 (final line/envoi).

Our theme for the year is "in conversation." The last time we wrote to this form (May 2016 if you want to check them out), we generated a list of words and selected our end words from the communal list. We didn't do that this time around, and I found not having words to work with made the challenge a lot harder.

Given our charged political times, I wanted to write about political conversations, but that didn't go well. I wrote a lot of really terrible poems before finally settling on the subject of secrets and whispering. After some thought and numerous revisions, I have two drafts. I wrote at least 10 different envois for version 1, and didn't like any of them. I tried some new end words and found that I like version 2 much better.

Image from: https://theosophical.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/telephone-game.jpg

The Telephone Game - Version 1
The message starts with just a whisper
children gather close to listen
as words twist and spark a laugh

The meaning bends and others laugh
as words are passed along in a whisper
each eager ear strains to listen

The end of the line waits to listen
excitement growing with every laugh—
but the truth slips by, lost in a whisper

Children at play whisper, listen, laugh—making indelible memories

The Telephone Game - Version 2
A secret phrase shared in a whisper
from lips to ear, heads bend
together in the telephone game

Truth unravels in the game
laughs punctuate every whisper
meaning shifts as words bend

Children in the circle wait to bend
their neighbor's ear in a game
carried forward whisper by whisper

In every whisper, truth bends to shape the game

Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2025. All rights reserved.

You can read the poems my Poetry Sisters have written at the links below. A few folks are traveling this month, but they may pop up later with a poem.

• Tanita Davis
• Mary Lee Hahn
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon

Would you like to try the next challenge? We're writing burning haibun. You’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on October 31st in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems! 

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Amy VanDerwater at The Poem Farm. Happy poetry Friday all!

Poetry Friday - Summer Poems Zine

Hello friends. I participated in Tabatha Yeatts summer poetry swap again this year. I received so many lovely poems and gifts from this community. I plan to highlight them in a post later this month. 

Today I want to share the poems I wrote for others and the zine I created to collect them all in one place. Here's what it looks like (unfolded).

You can download the file if you would like to fold your own copy. 

Do you need directions on how to fold a zine? 

Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord at makingbooks.com offers numerous free resources for creating various book forms. She calls this zine format a hotdog booklet. I love her easy-to-follow directions and images. You will find written directions and a downloadable PDF for this form on her site.

For the swap this year, I made and sent "poetry wallets," which were paper wallets made from recycled (upcycled?) envelopes with poetic form cards inside. Here's a peek at what they looked like.

The poems I wrote this year reflected some of the forms on the cards (there were 12 form cards in the wallet) and were all on summer topics. I usually do a better job of personalizing poems, so I fell short of the mark this time around. I wrote a sixth poem, not in one of these funky forms, but something more traditional (a sonnet), and sent it off to my pal Tanita, who was settling in to a new place this summer. That is the poem I'm sharing today.

Goodbye to Summer

In summer's garden fading in its glow  

old blossoms with their vibrant colors dim

yet fruits now swell with autumn's promise, slow  

as daylight wanes and shadows softly skim  

The apples blush with hints of rosy red 

as pears hang golden from big branching arms 

the vines with grapes like jewels finely spread

invite a taste of fall's forthcoming charms 

Faint is the buzz where once the bees did weave  

among the blooms now yielding to the field

tired flora gently take their leave

as nature turns, her secrets slow revealed

Thus ends sweet summer with its parting song  

to herald autumn's time, both crisp and strong

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2025. All rights reserved.

Image by wirestock on Freepik

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup. Happy poetry Friday all!

Poetry Sisters Talk Back to a Poem

This month, our challenge was to talk back to a poem, specifically the poem "Talk to Me Poem, I Think I Got the Blues" by Nikki Giovanni. (Note that this link is to the only written version I could find, and it is incomplete and has a few errors.) Since this poem was performed at a Def Poetry Jam, you really must hear it, not just read it.

There's so much I love about this poem and this performance. I love how poem is a metaphor that stands in for a person, or a people. I love how sassy Giovanni is in her writing and delivery. That's the cue I took in thinking about my own poem. I'm not sure I've talked back to this poem as much as modeled mine on its form, but I had fun trying.

Let's Talk, Poem

Alone? I’ve always have company—

a choir of crickets,

a half-broke heart that won’t quit singing

and every secret I've never said out loud.

Jail? I ran the cellblock.

I etched myself on the walls,

traded verses for cigarettes,

made guards hum my lines

when they thought no one was listening.

Lost? I don’t get lost.

I wander.

I slip out the back door

hide in alleys of memory,

show up on a porch swing

when the singing begins.

Neglected? Maybe, but

I don’t sulk.

I'm aging like vinyl—

a bit scratched and dusty,

but drop the needle

and I still spin fine.

Plans? I don’t do plans.

I happen.

I crash parties,

steal the spotlight,

turn silence into fireworks.

Miss home? I am home,

whenever a tongue

dares to speak me out loud, 

So don’t come crying, baby.

You got the blues? 

I taught the blues how to sway.

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2025. All rights reserved.

You can read the poems my Poetry Sisters have written at the links below. A few folks are traveling this month, but they may pop up later with a poem.

• Tanita Davis
• Mary Lee Hahn
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon

Would you like to try the next challenge? We will be writing tritina. The tritina is composed of 3 tercets and a final line (envoi) that stands alone. Similar to a sestina, though shorter, it uses a set of 3 alternating end words instead of six. The form is: ABC / CAB / BCA / A, B, and C (final line/envoi). We are continuing to write poems around the theme of "in conversation." You’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on September 26th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems! 

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Karen Edmisten. Happy poetry Friday all!

Poetry Friday - Box Triolets

It's been a long time since I've written a poem for David Harrison's Word of the Month Poetry Challenge. The word for August is box.

I'm quite fond of the triolet, so that's the form I chose to write in. A triolet is an 8-line poem that uses only two rhymes throughout. Additionally, the first line is repeated in the fourth and seventh lines, while the second line is repeated in the final line. Because of this, only five different poetic lines are written.  The rhyme scheme for a triolet is ABaAabAB (where capital letters stand for repeated lines).

I tried several different box topcis, but finally landed on Pandora's box and cat in a box. I'm still working on a Schrödinger's cat poem, which I think would be funny, but I'm just not there yet. Here are the two poems I'm sharing today.

Pandora's Box Triolet

Pandora's box was opened wide

unleashing woes upon the land,

yet hope remained, a light inside

Pandora's box was opened wide

from its troubles we could not hide

but hope endured, our guiding hand

when Pandora's box was opened wide

unleashing woes upon the land

A cat in an empty box at rest

curled in a corner snug and tight 

where simple spaces feel the best

a cat in an empty box takes rest 

a quiet spot becomes a nest

in a cardboard world of pure delight 

a cat in an empty box at rest, 

curled in corner snug and tight. 

Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2025. All rights reserved.

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe. Happy poetry Friday all! 

Poetry Sisters Write Sedoka

The challenge this month was to write sedoka. The sedoka is a Japanese poetic form that is an unrhymed poem made from a pair of katuata. A katuata is a three-line poem with the syllable count of 5 / 7 / 7. Generally, a sedoka addresses the same subject from different perspectives. Sometimes the first stanza asks a question, and the second stanza answers it. Given our theme of "in conversation," this form was a good choice for this year. 

I tried a lot of topics before I settled on fireflies (I love sitting outside on summer nights watching them) and secrets. Here are my poems.

Fireflies Version 1

Flickers in the dusk—

do they dance to call the stars

or to keep darkness at bay?

Each light holds a song

brief as breath and just as bright

meant for one who understands.

Fireflies Version 2

Why do fireflies glow

in the hush of summer fields

whispering through blades of grass?

They carry twilight—

tiny lanterns of longing

searching for a name in light.

Secrets Version 1

Where do whispers go

when they slip between closed lips

heavier than spoken words?

They sink in the dark

curling into hidden rooms

soft as breath behind a door.

Secrets Version 2

Why do secrets burn

even when they are not told

coiled quiet beneath the skin?

They are living things—

shadows that forget to sleep

feeding on the fear of light.

Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2025. All rights reserved.

You can read the poems my Poetry Sisters have written at the links below. A few folks are traveling this month, but they may pop up later with a poem.

• Tanita Davis
• Mary Lee Hahn
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon

Would you like to try the next challenge? We're talking back to a poem, any poem of your choosing, using Talk to Me, Poem, I Think I Got The Blues by Nikki Giovanni as a mentor poem. You’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on August 29th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems! 

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Marcie Flinchum Atkins. Happy poetry Friday all!

Poetry Friday - Protest Triolet

This week, the Inklings are writing poems of protest for our nation’s birthday. The challenge was to"write in praise of democracy and patriotism if you’re so moved, or write in frustration and befuddlement over the “leadership” in the White House and/or Congress and/or the courts and/or and/or and/or." 

I'm quite fond of the triolet, so that's the form my poem takes today. A triolet is an 8-line poem that uses only two rhymes throughout. Additionally, the first line is repeated in the fourth and seventh lines, while the second line is repeated in the final line. Because of this, only five different poetic lines are written.  The rhyme scheme for a triolet is ABaAabAB (where capital letters stand for repeated lines).

My protest triolet is untitled.

Rise up, voices strong and clear
in streets where silence echoes long
for every right we hold so dear,
rise up, voices strong and clear.
With armored courage, persevere
against the tide of all that’s wrong,
raise our voices strong and clear
in streets where silence echoes long.

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2025. All rights reserved.

Image: Harris & Ewing, W. (1917) Mary Winsor Penn. '17 holding Suffrage Prisoners banner. United States, Washington D.C, 1917. [Oct.-Nov] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/mnwp000225/.

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading. Happy poetry Friday all!

Poetry Sisters Write Raccontinos

This month the challenge was to write a raccontino. The first time I saw this form was in the Helen Frost verse novel Spinning Through the Universe: A Novel in Poems from Room 214 (2004). This was released in an updated form in 2016 as Room 214: A Year in Poems.

A raccontino is a form that follows these rules:

• composed of couplets (any number)
• even-numbered lines share the same end rhyme
• the title and last words of the odd-numbered lines tell a story

I wrote a raccontino in April as part of my National Poetry Month project. That poem was based on a proverb. Having the end words of the story in place made it easier to write the full poem. That is the approach used this time as well. I tried a number of different storylines. These two are my favorites.

Rules

patterns and stitches were

followed with precision true

each knit and purl carefully made

as needles clicked and flew

grandma taught me to

craft love in vibrant hues

but creative license will be

an urge hard to subdue

when rules are broken

imperfections will shine through

My second poem uses a quote from Claude Monet as the story.

I Would Like to Paint

 

with colors wild as the

sea, joining in delight

 

lines and curves that bend a-way

and back again to unite

bold shapes. The finished canvas holds a

field with one red kite

in the sky like a bird

soaring in its flight.

With bold strokes it sings

praise to summer sunlight.

Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2025. All rights reserved.

You can read the poems my Poetry Sisters have written at the links below. 

• Tanita Davis
• Mary Lee Hahn
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon

Would you like to try the next challenge? We're writing sedoka. You can learn more about the form at Writer's Digest. You’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on July 25th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems! 

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by our pal Tanita. Happy poetry Friday all!