Tag: cinquain

  • Pearls from Clams: Cinquain

    Does it make sense to you that when you keep bumping into something in your life, it is about you rather than just about what (or whom) you are bumping in to? That has been happening for me again. I enjoyed using a new poetry form to gain insight and freedom.

    The form of poetry is called the American Cinquain.(See Cinquain.org)

    Adelaide Crapsey (1878-1914) was an American poet best known for establishing the five-line form known as the cinquain.

    She had a deep appreciation for metrics and was an admirer of Japanese tanka and haiku. Her cinquain was developed partly as an American analogue of these forms.

    Her poetry was published posthumously in 1915 in a collection titled Verse.

    She is considered one of the first Imagist poets.

    The insight gained related to a struggle I had had at Holistic Alliance—wanting to please everyone, thereby sacrificing my own integrity and the integrity of the relationships with everyone else. I hope you will enjoy the poetry!

    Regret
    Unbidden, pervasive
    Wrenching, gripping, haunting
    Makes a poor bedtime partner
    Remorse

    Forgiveness
    Sweet, welcome
    Freeing, expanding, relieving
    Opens one’s heart to new beginnings
    Mercy

    Ashes
    Broken promises
    Our dreams dashed
    Can we ever recover
    Willing

    Humor
    Brings healing
    Makes us laugh
    At or with others
    Lightheartedly

    Nature
    Once feared
    Then sadly forgotten
    What will the future
    Hold

    The truth
    My honesty
    Why give anything else
    When all is given to the self
    Live clean

    In one form, your last line should be a synonym of your first line. It should mean exactly the same or nearly the same of that first word.

    Friends
    Such treasures
    Some for life
    Some for a time
    Beloveds

    Passion
    Wild, hot
    Wickedly, wantonly, willingly
    Giving over to my heart’s desire
    Devotion

    Great stuff can come from inner struggle just like pearls from clams…

    Here are more related websites about the form, thanks to Gail, president of Pine Island Writers!

    http://examples.yourdictionary.com/cinquain-examples.html

    http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/davidc/6c_files/Poem%20pics/cinquaindescrip.htm

    http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson43/RWT016-1.PDF