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| The power of three in storytelling |
1) Write a story in three parts: beginning, middle and end for each of the the tricube's three stanzas
2) write a list poem, as if you were jotting three-syllable notes to yourself (or someone else)
3) Pick a three-syllable word and write your poem as a definition of that word.
4) Or simply use a three-syllable word as inspiration, weaving it in as a line in the final poem (or let it go after you've revised it into something better.)
5) brainstorm a grab bag of three-syllable lines about any topic. Then play with the order of the lines, mixing and matching to make the most interesting stanzas. Tanita likes to "intensify" the poem as she moves through the stanzas.
6) Be inspired by the math itself, and play with the rich lore of numbers
...which is what I did, writing three tricubes, all about the number three:
ThreesomesValentinemath is odd:adding oneto two shakesup old ties...classic lovetriangle,new friendshipor third wheel?
Cautionin Japansugar canefield warning:Don’t be thirdin a lineof walkers:one: snake seestwo: snake coilsthree: snake strikes.
Fortune
Bad luck sprouts
in threes, spreadslike poisonBut good luckfalls like trees:a rich rotthick with lifegreen with lovemultiplied
---all poems, all rights reserved by Sara Lewis Holmes
Please visit my poetry sisters to see their tricubes:
Laura
Poetry Friday is hosted today by Amy VanDerwater at the Poem Farm
LOL, Valentine math IS odd. One and one doesn't always equal... anything, despite what eSara says...😂
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing all of your poetry options for playing with this form. I'm quite tempted to make this my April project - doing definitions or lists - because they are oddly meditative!! I definitely feel that power of three; it's such a familiar and safe pattern to my brain that I'm instantly drawn to it.
Here's to the rich rot of a good life, much to feed the soil and the soul.♥
These poems of three this week are all so different and fascinating. Well done!
ReplyDeleteOh, Sara -- you win the breadth award, I think. I have to say, I adore the middle one -- the snakey warning!! So good, all three of them.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, Lloyd Alexander! I still have the boxed set and I think it's quite the right time for a re-read. I need a good hero story to lean into. Second of all, " "meditative" (which is poet speak for wild fun.)" gave me a delicious snort of laughter. I can totally hear your voice in that! And third of all, I agree with Liz on the breadth award. What a trio! But that last one, especially, speaks to my heart. To frame good luck as "rich rot" is brilliantly unexpectedly true -- exactly what I want from a poem. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the ideas. Your poems are lovely and well-crafted. All unique.
ReplyDeleteSuch a fun idea to go straight for the play on threes, and you hit the trifecta. I'm loving all these, but I think I especially love the last one and your characterization of good luck as "a rich rot/thick with life." Wow.
ReplyDeleteGreat enjambment in all three tricubes! And I'm def going to be first in line of walkers in sugar cane fields!
ReplyDeleteThese are so interesting, and fascinating to think about the meaning of "three" in three tricubes. I always hear my mom's voice once two bad things have happened...that there is one left. And friendship or Valentines in threes, always a question. But a snake - new to me and so interesting! Thank you. xo for the week ahead. a.
ReplyDeleteIt appears that Blogger swallowed my comment Saturday, so I'm back and trying again. I love each of these for different reasons. I love the mathiness (I just made that word up!) of the first. I love the counting rhyme-ish-ness of the second and the important lesson. I love the hopefulness of the third. Lovely, all of them.
ReplyDeleteOh "thick with life / green with love" so gorgeous!
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