matriarch
 
in troubling times when chaos rules the day
mother beckons, come away, come away
balm, sweet as honey, she pours o’er our heads
with tales of yore, tucks us tight in our beds
mother knows best when we are led astray
 
buried secrets hum, things we dare not say
stay busy…busy, to hide our dismay
the sting of truth drives us from things we dread
in troubling times
 
when justice denied requires a stay
when power’s a poison, patriarchs play
when terrible truths rise up from the dead
when madness compels us to flee instead
mother calls us to dance amidst the fray
in troubling times

~kat

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day One Challenge: Write – without consulting the book – a poem that recounts the plot, or some portion of the plot, of a novel that you remember having liked but that you haven’t read in a long time.

The Book: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Today’s Poetry Form: The Rondeau

The rondeau is comprised of 15 lines across three stanzas with the first word or phrase from the first line represented as a refrain (R) and a rhyme scheme of two rhymes throughout (A and B). The rhyme and refrain scheme looks like this:

A (R)          
A
B
B
A

A
A
B
R

A
A
B
B
A
R

The A and B lines are usually eight or 10 syllables in length. The refrain is usually one to three words (or so).