I had a terrific time doing March Madness this year and I'd like to again express my thanks to Ed DeCaria of Think Kid Think for hosting the contest every year and for putting an amazing amount of work into it on top of his day job. I'd also like to express my thanks to everyone who was behind me, supporting me, and voting for me. I felt it and it felt wonderful! I went into it with a whole lot of trepidation because I don't normally perform well under pressure. But even though I was sleep deprived, drinking copious quantities of green tea to help me stay up all night. writing double dactyls that really missed the mark, somehow, some way, I got it together enough to continue for five rounds. I can't ever remember feeling so inspired!
In the fourth round, my word was "imperceptible." I spent quite a while making lists of things that were imperceptible, such as an imperceptible glance between two high-schoolers that have begun to like each other (and I actually did write a poem using this idea.) Or, a grandfather pointing out to his granddaughter the imperceptible beginnings of spring. I did not use this idea but in the fifth round, I think the seeds had been planted, because I wrote my villanelle about the celebration of spring time. Nothing is ever wasted. Nothing is ever lost.
With these thoughts swirling in my head, I went to bed, and when I woke up the next day (I wouldn't say it was morning), I realized I wanted to write a pantoum. I had recently been experimenting with pantoums but had never managed to complete one in just four stanzas. That would be my challenge and here's the pantoum I came up with for round four:
Behind the Dancing Rain: A Pantoum
Lying in bed on nights when it storms,
I dream of a world past my window pane:
imperceptible movements, mysterious forms,
masked by the dance of the thunder-clapped rain.
I dream of a world past my window pane--
the gnarled fingers of troll-like trees.
Masked by the dance of the thunder-clapped rain,
owls hoo-hoo in the gusty breeze.
The gnarled fingers of troll-like trees
tap the walls of my hapless house.
Owls hoo-hoo in the gusty breeze.
In a sodden field sleeps a quiet mouse.
Tapping the walls of my hapless house,
imperceptible movements, mysterious forms.
In a sodden field sleeps a quiet mouse
in its own hidden bed on nights when it storms.
All Rights Reserved 2014 B.J. Lee
I'd also like to do a how-to on the pantoum similar to the one I did on the villanelle simply because I love forms!
In the fourth round, my word was "imperceptible." I spent quite a while making lists of things that were imperceptible, such as an imperceptible glance between two high-schoolers that have begun to like each other (and I actually did write a poem using this idea.) Or, a grandfather pointing out to his granddaughter the imperceptible beginnings of spring. I did not use this idea but in the fifth round, I think the seeds had been planted, because I wrote my villanelle about the celebration of spring time. Nothing is ever wasted. Nothing is ever lost.
With these thoughts swirling in my head, I went to bed, and when I woke up the next day (I wouldn't say it was morning), I realized I wanted to write a pantoum. I had recently been experimenting with pantoums but had never managed to complete one in just four stanzas. That would be my challenge and here's the pantoum I came up with for round four:
Behind the Dancing Rain: A Pantoum
Lying in bed on nights when it storms,
I dream of a world past my window pane:
imperceptible movements, mysterious forms,
masked by the dance of the thunder-clapped rain.
I dream of a world past my window pane--
the gnarled fingers of troll-like trees.
Masked by the dance of the thunder-clapped rain,
owls hoo-hoo in the gusty breeze.
The gnarled fingers of troll-like trees
tap the walls of my hapless house.
Owls hoo-hoo in the gusty breeze.
In a sodden field sleeps a quiet mouse.
Tapping the walls of my hapless house,
imperceptible movements, mysterious forms.
In a sodden field sleeps a quiet mouse
in its own hidden bed on nights when it storms.
All Rights Reserved 2014 B.J. Lee
I'd also like to do a how-to on the pantoum similar to the one I did on the villanelle simply because I love forms!
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