Cinqku #23 – A Trio in Honor of August

son of
the stars and
dawn, Notus* drives
the swelling south winds of
autumn

laying
bare summer’s
bones, the reaper’s
sickle, sparing none this
harvest

season
letting go
drawing inward,
many blessings to be
counted

~kat
*NOTOS (Notus) was the god of the south wind, one of the four directional Anemoi (Wind–Gods). He was the wet, storm-bringing wind of late summer and early autumn. Notos dwelt in Aithiopia (Ethiopia), the southernmost realm in the geographies of myth.

A cinqku must always have 5 lines and a perfect seventeen-syllable count. The lines typically follow a 2,3,4,6,2 format. There is no title requirement on the second line. As for syntax and diction styles, it follows the free Tanka style originally. There are no metric requirements for a cinqku poem. Additionally, the final line must contain a cinquain or kireji turn for emphasis.