Tag Archives: digital photography

pink moon

pink moon

bloom
flower moon
I hardly noticed
day fading into night
bright

~kat

I have enjoyed spending a week with the Elfchen. Come Monday looking forward to a new, new poetry form to practice…the Than-bauk! With three four syllable lines in total, easy-peasy right?! Ah, but there is a bit of a twist! Stay tuned! 😊

The Elfchen, known as an “elevenie” in English, the German elfchen (which loosely translates to “little eleven” or “wee eleven”) contains 11 words separated into five lines: one word, then two, then three, then four, then one again. The first line of an elfchen is traditionally some single-word concept, thought, or thing, which the rest of the poem describes—what it does, how it looks, how it makes you feel, whatever strikes your fancy. The last line is often a synonym or some other overarching reflection of your first word.

at dawn

at dawn

shaded
beneath trees
green and lush
sunlight tendrils streaming through
quiet

~kat

It’s a Saturday, so I decided to combine poetry forms: an Elfchen using Magnetic Poetry tiles from the Nature Collection because…hey, why not! 😊

An Elfchen is known as an “elevenie” in English, the German elfchen (which loosely translates to “little eleven” or “Elfchenwee eleven”) contains 11 words separated into five lines: one word, then two, then three, then four, then one again. The first line of an elfchen is traditionally some single-word concept, thought, or thing, which the rest of the poem describes—what it does, how it looks, how it makes you feel, whatever strikes your fancy. The last line is often a synonym or some other overarching reflection of your first word.


tea for one

tea for one

missing
your voice
sipping tea, conversation,
solving the world’s problems
alone

~kat

Day Two playing with the Elfchen. 

Elfchen
Known as an “elevenie” in English, the German elfchen (which loosely translates to “little eleven” or “wee eleven”) contains 11 words separated into five lines: one word, then two, then three, then four, then one again. The first line of an elfchen is traditionally some single-word concept, thought, or thing, which the rest of the poem describes—what it does, how it looks, how it makes you feel, whatever strikes your fancy. The last line is often a synonym or some other overarching reflection of your first word.

blackberries

blackberries

she is a wall at the forest’s edge
an impenetrable bramble, untamed
some say she’s invasive, an unruly hedge
in fact she’s a rose of another sweet name

an impenetrable bramble, untamed
greening each spring, flowering to buds
in fact she’s a rose of another sweet name
with drupelets sweet and ready to pluck

greening each spring, flowering to buds
one must take care when venturing too close
with drupelets sweet and ready to pluck
her prickly cane stem’s a formidable foe

one must take care when venturing too close
when fair rubis ursinus nips, she draws blood
her prickly cane stem’s a formidable foe
a favorite snack of deer folk and thrush

when fair rubis ursinus nips, she draws blood
she is a wall at the forest’s edge
a favorite snack of deer folk and thrush
some say she’s invasive, an unruly hedge

~kat

NaPoWriMo2023 Challenge Day 17: Write a poem that contains the name of a specific variety of edible plant – preferably one that grows in your area. In the poem, try to make a specific comparison between some aspect of the plant’s lifespan and your own – or the life of someone close to you. Also, include at least one repeating phrase.

I chose to do a Pantoum ( see the rules below):

Stanza 1: ABAB
1 First line (A)
2 Second line (B)
3 Third line rhymes with first (A)
4 Fourth line rhymes with second (B)

Stanza 2: BCBC
5 Repeat the second line (B)
6 Sixth line (C)
7 Repeat the fourth line (B)
8 Eighth line rhymes with sixth (C)

Stanza 3: CDCD
9 Repeat the sixth line (C)
10 Tenth line (D)
11 Repeat the eighth line (C)
12 Twelfth line rhymes with the tenth (D)

Stanza 4: DADA
13 Repeat tenth line (D)
14 Fourteenth line rhymes with first (A)
15 Repeat twelfth line (D)
16 Repeat the first line (A)


A ReVerse Poem for Sunday, April 16, 2023

Happy Sunday!  I decided to give today’s Reverse time to simmer. When I started it a week ago it just didn’t seem ripe. And in the process of reviewing, I made a few tweaks here and there. Most notably yesterday’s limerick poem which was atrocious in form…where was my head? To save you the trouble of revisiting said disaster, I’ll leave the edited version for you here: 

Uncle Ned

Old Uncle Ned, a likable guy was he
An affable charmer, the cousins agreed
He made the kids laugh
For his jokes were quite daft
Made us wonder what was in his tea!

At least now it is a proper limerick that actually follows the rules and rhymes!

And secondly, I added a line to my diatribe from Friday, “a brief moment, lost”. As if I didn’t rant enough, there was one more thought left unsaid. You know how that goes, when the floodgates open and you finally unload everything you’ve been holding onto. Then when you walk away there is just one more thing…that “I wish I would had said” moment, but it’s too late. Well, that’s the beauty of the written word. You can edit it. So if you will, indulge me this final word, my “and another thing”. I’m including the context as well to give it full due…

…I have learned to look them
straight in the eyes, dare them to
objectify me, to present my own
ideas, and tell them it’s time
to make their own damn coffee…
and while they’re at it, bring me mine.

To say that the past several months have taken a toll would be an understatement. But much like the wonder years of being a “mother of 4 under the age of 4…how did I ever do it?”, and later a mother of 4 teenage daughters, I’m finding my stride as a full time official senior citizen, still working full time and now, caring for a spouse who is incapacitated from complications of a major emergency surgery in January. If nothing else I am a survivor. And much to my own surprise I still have plenty of spunk left in me. Life is such a gift! Through it all, I think I needed to be reminded of that.

A ReVerse Poem for Sunday, April 16, 2023

like a nightmare frozen in the sky
is it ghosts, god, or me I hear
how climactic
we dare not want
leaving no stained rock unturned
I’m just kidding (but you’re thinking I’m not)
I’m paying for the demons of your past
In waves she sweeps me off my feet
it’s on the internet
stirring up words, uninspired
let’s bring in the cows
They lied to us you know.
He made the kids laugh

~kat

A ReVerse poem (a practice I started many years ago) is a summary poem with a single line lifted from each entry of a collection of work over a particular timeframe and re-penned in chronological order as a new poem. Unlike a collaborative poem, the ReVerse features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts.