Sevenling: Owl In The Night

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Sevenling: Owl In The Night

Owl in the night

mouse in the grass

wind behind wide wings

like my own heart I feel you fly

my voice a mouse-cry

as wide wings beat the light from

the moon to my eye.

December 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

posted for Fireblossom

at The Sunday Muse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note on sevenlings if you haven't met one before: "The sevenling is a poem of seven lines inspired by the form of [a].. much translated short verse by Anna Akhmatova (1889 - 1966)...The first three lines should contain an element of three - three connected or contrasting statements, or a list of three details, names or possibilities..lines four to six should similarly contain an element of three connected directly or indirectly or not at all..The seventh line should act as a narrative summary or punchline or as an unusual juxtaposition..A sevenling should be titled Sevenling followed by the first few words in parentheses The tone of the sevenling should be mysterious, offbeat or disturbing, giving a feeling that only part of the story is being told.."~Roddy Lumsden

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images: Owl and Moon, ©Alan Perry All Rights Reserved Fair Use

birdperson image author unknown via Sunday Muse Fair Use

 

Sevenling (Baba Yaga)

Sevenling (Baba Yaga)

Baba Yaga flies the living woods to pluck

silver tufts of wormwood, cobalt wolf'sbane,

red-cap toadstools for the little ones to suck.

Loneliness and these things made her luck:

resentment clutched and hope that's brought to naught;

and the beebalm, foxgloves, larkspur in her path

can not cure the sickness that she caught.

~April 2015

posted for    real toads

Challenge: Frog-cups in New York City

The lively and darkly enchanting genius of Magaly Guerrero has found a perfect topic for this penultimate day of April's long haul: write a new poem that will include a flower named after an animal or a bird named after a flower. She requested a shorter poem, and I'm sure we can all appreciate that at this point, so I chose the sevenling form, inspired by the work of Russian poet Anna Ahkmatova. I also chose a Russian folktale to go with it.

You can find out more about the Slavic witch Baba Yaga, the mortar and pestle she uses to fly, and her house on chicken legs  HERE. 

Images: Baba Yaga, by Viktor Vasnetsov, 1929  public domain via wikimedia commons

Illustration of Baba Yaga by Ivan Bilibin, 1900, from the fairy tale Vasilisa The Beautiful

Public domain via wikiart.org

Sevenling: Thin Air

Sevenling (Thin Air)

for Max, at 9 years

Thin air behind, I look at the sails,

belled out and blowing, heaped like pails,

and see the face of invisible wind.

Thin air all 'round, in your eyes' wide light

radiant, unclouded, fledgeling bright

dancing the wave where your smiles begin

I see the full push of invisible joy.

~April, 2013

posted for   real toads

Challenge: Joaquin Sorolla

My challenge for today was to write a brief poem inspired by one of the paintings of Spanish Impressionist Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida. Doing it in a short form was optional; I chose the sevenling.

The sevenling is a form originally derived from a poem by Anna Ahkmatova, consisting of seven lines, with two tercets containing three details or elements each, and a concluding single line that stands apart. Rhyme and meter are not stipulated.

Images: Valencian Boats, and The Young Yachtsman, by Joaquin Sorolla

Public domain, via wikipaintings.org.

Sevenling: At The Intellect's Wake

 Sevenling: At The Intellect's Wake

At the Intellect's wake--what will you have, scotch mist

watered wine or hot spleen juice for tea? We serve it in numb;

no china pots, crystal cups in an ape's auditorium.

Are there teeth anywhere? Please open wide--

they'll be gently extracted; the buffet is cold mush

lukewarm spoonfuls of treacle, with thin cabbage soup.

Where are the mourners? Out in the rain in a graveyard of swallows.

~September 2012

Posted for    real toads

Sunday Mini-Challenge: The Sevenling

This form was first used by Russian Poet Anna Akhmatova. See the link for details.

Photo copryright and courtesy of Margaret Bednar. Used with permission. Thank you , Margaret.

Sevenling (The New Day)

Sevenling (The New Day)

Through the white wind I fly my broken bird

head on fire, wax wings worn wide, shedding

singed feathers, ground a heaviness pulling from below

and then I wake again to the next life of this day.

Plucked naked, flame out, no wings to be seen;

a reprieve, or something harder than earth

stonier than the end?

May 2012

posted for    real toads

Open Link Monday

This poem is a sevenling. I first heard of this form through Marian (runaway sentences) when it was referenced on real toads. Here are links to one (two) of her own sevenlings posted on her blog, and also the explanation of the form, derived from a poem of Anna Ahkmatova, at The American Poetry Journal.

Image: Impossible Flag CXVI, by procsilas, on flick'r

Shared under a Creative Commons 2.0 License