Saturday, April 23, 2016

Q is for quatrain

A quatrain is a French poetic form. It is a stanza of four lines, usually having alternating rhymes. The quatrains that I wrote today are independent of each other and their rhyme scheme is ABCA. That is to say, only the first and last lines in the stanza end in a rhyme. Each line is ten syllables in length.

Stuff of joy
Spring
I touch forsythia, pale and soft
showing the yellowness of the spring sun
the air smells misty, like newly mown grass
mating calls sound from songbids high aloft.

Tea
A cup of tea feels delightfully warm
an entire cupful of liquid joy
a pastry, a cookie, or any nice treat
happiness in sunshine or in a storm.

Bird music
Melodious sounds flutter through the air
from birds calling out to their future mates
in chirps and whistles, always sounding sweet
colorful songbirds flying off in pairs.

Butterflies
Flutterby, butterfly, your wings so bright.
I would follow you over sea and land.
I would follow you where ever you go.
Your bright colors give me so much delight.

Books
I can visit places both far and near
beneath the sea, in other galaxies
back when dinosaurs roamed the earth
good books will carry me both here and there.
 


2 comments:

Jeanine Byers said...

Oh, I loved your poems, Alice!! They are delightful, and though the one about tea was my favorite, I also loved the one about butterflies and the one about books. I never thought about it before, but it *would* be neat to follow a butterfly!

Alana said...

So lovely, paired with the flower pictures. Well done!