Good Morning:
I often read the postings in the poetry forum here at Wacco. It is a rewarding reflection of the rich and vital poetic life found in West County. I have started several threads here, and posted individual poems.
Today I am beginning a thread devoted to syllabic forms of poetry. I am inspired by Larry Robinson's ongoing poem-a-day thread and Sandy Eastoak's thread 'Poems From Here'. Recently Sandy posted poems that were in a form that I created. The form is called 100 Friends. It has 15 lines with the syllable count as follows: 2-4-2-4-6-4-6-8-6-8-10-8-10-12-10; for a total of 100 syllables. It was gratifying to see another poet pick up on the form. Thanks, Sandy!
I have developed a special interest in syllabic forms in English. I think of 2015 as the 100th anniversary of syllabic forms in English because the first such form, the Cinquain (2-4-6-8-2) first appeared in print in 1915. Since then, and especially from the 1980's on, interest in syllabic forms has steadily increased.
I started out writing in free verse. Gradually my appreciation for a formal approach, rooted in syllabics, grew. I still, now and then, write free verse; but my output is dominated by the various syllabic forms now circulating in English language poetry.
What I hope to do with this thread is to post poems that take a syllabic approach and embody a specific syllabic form. Some of the poems will be my own, some from other poets. I don't know how often I will post (it won't be like Larry's poem-a-day thread). I am thinking of the thread as a kind of ongoing coverage of the slowly growing world of English language syllabics. And because I am going to be posting from a variety of syllabic forms, I think of this thread as 'A Garland of Forms'.
Since Sandy posted some poems in the 100 Friends form, I thought my first post would be one of my own poems in that form. It is from my collection 'Safe Harbor':
Safe Harbor
Night falls
On the harbor
Night falls
Quick in winter
Saturn slowly descends
Into the fog
Hovering at the edge
Where the ocean and the sky blend
A stone stariway ascends
Stepping past the sun and the moon
Planets and galaxies dwindle and fade
Scattered petals from wind-blown blooms
All that's constructed and all that is made
Disappears in the depths of a hidden lagoon
There at the harbor of eternity