At the beginning of this month, Laura Purdie Salas, our inaugural Spotlight ON author, chose the cinquain as this month's ditty challenge. Besides adhering to the 5-line, 2-4-6-8-2 syllable count, she encouraged us to write about a specific water-related memory.
THANK YOU to everyone who took on this challenge. You guys ROCK... I mean, seriously. What a month it's been– so many outstanding cinquains! So much fun!
Here they are:
Log flume
Straddle the seat
Splashing every turn
Anticipating the freefall...
Soaked!
Anticipating the freefall...
Soaked!
© 2014 Kristi Veitenheimer
Rubber Pod
Blow-up
Killer Whale toy
rolly as the ocean
kids get toppled, dunked, Mom and Dad
whale watch.
© 2014 V. Nesdoly
Fountain
Splashes shimmer
I wonder if coins
Hide, waiting for a hand to hold
Treasure
© 2014 Margaret Simon
HOSTESS OF THE CANAL
Oar-length
Barracuda
Hunkered low in shadows
Considers if she might like me
For lunch.
© 2014 Tamera Will Wissinger
 |
| © 2014 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes |
Lake Champlain Summer Storm
The rain
Crashes and whips.
Our boat rolls side to side.
We watch as dad wrestle the waves...
saves us.
© 2014 Janet Fagal
Drought Life
These times,
our spring, when roots
and ducks cry for darkened
clouds that give showers and puddles,
we pray.
Can't wait
for God, but grab
sprinklers, snaking the hose
to geographic corners of
the lawn.
Washing
the grass and trees
and plants down, down to roots,
They glisten in gratitude, prayers
answered.
© 2014 Linda Baie
Canal
Drawbridge halts boat.Keeper swings fishing pole
with wooden shoe to collect toll.
Fun fare!
Pushing
a boat off the
canal bank entails a
swift jump or sudden waist-deep plunge.
Quick dip!
© 2014 Sarah Monsma
Peepers,
from vernal pools
with pure ancient voices,
joyously herald the season
with song.
Water
cumulus clouds
forming dark mounds in sky
startled by thunder and lightning
they cry.
© 2014 Mayra Donnell
 |
| © 2014 Amanda Boyarshinov |
Metamorphosis
Waiting.
White snow; gray; black
Brings unrest to my heart.
Soft rain and breeze, buds turn to leaves --
Yea! Spring!
© 2014 George A. Heidenrich
Ducklings
paddle webbed feet,pitching like fishing floats--
Mama's quacks reel them to her safe
harbor.
© 2014 Buffy Silverman
Wading
in the small bay,
then suddenly caught up
in a starry silver current -
minnows.
© 2014 Monica Gudlewski
Dear Pop,
Drip drop, drip drop
The faucet will not stop.
The plumber's truck is in the shop.
Please mop.
Icee
Frozen water
Flavored like a cola
Eaten too fast will give you a
Brain freeze
Dewdrops
Prisms glisten
Clinging to wildflowers
Capture morning light, emitting
Rainbows
Ocean
Waves crashing on
Distant shorelines become
Tides of the future, tomorrow's
Daydreams
Lochness
A monster's realm.
Lurking in the shadows
The giant water dragon swims
Beneath
Water
Cool, wet
Pouring, splashing, quenching
From a glass pitcher
H2O
I wish
I were a fish,
Swimming in the ocean
With dolphins and mermaids.
I wish...
© 2014 Jan Gars
great blue
heron soaringand spearing tiny fish
on the Columbia River
one glimpse
© 2014 Jone Rush MacCulloch
yellow
crowned night heron
hunches into itself
shy fisherman of the evening
waters
© 2014 B. J. Lee
Poodle
On a noodle
Floats around the water.
Don't jump in! Oh, there she goes! We
Poodle
© 2014 Barbara Bockman
(Bonus points for taking the poodle-noodle challenge!)
Underwater Nests
Fish beds
don't look like mine –
dotting the stream edge, these
circles of small stones nudge in place
hold spawn.
© 2014 Keri Collins Lewis
The Politics of Water
As if
endowed, we take
faucet, pipe, disease-free
for granted. All of this, our right.
Not theirs?
© 2014 Mary Lee Hahn
And You Thought It Was Just Yucky
Drooling--
continuous
stream of protein-laden
water ensures germ-protected
babies.
© 2014 Diane Mayr
A Morning Plea
Thirsty
wilting leaves say"Drip, drop, pour, splash, soak, spray--
send me life, sweet blessed wetness
my way."
© 2014 Damon Dean
Float. Sink.
The rise and fall
of nations preserved here
though discarded as meaningless
rubbish.
Our creek
coughs up the past:
tricycle, flip phone, cans --
then an arrowhead surfaces.
Progress?
© 2014 Keri Collins Lewis
Evening Snow
The field
across the road
once green with grassy hay
now snuggles sound asleep, tucked in
with stars.
© 2014 Matt Forrest Esenwine
Park ride
splishing, splashing
atop large inner tubes
down, down, down, jetty black tunnel
I'm here
© 2014 Jenifer McNamara
Smooth stones . . .
flickicty-flick
skippity-skip-skip-skip
skip-skip-skip-skip-skip-skip-skip-skip
ker-splash!
Marco.
Polo. Marco.
Polo. Stroke, stoke, stroke, stop.
Reach. Nothing. Marco. Polo. Tag!
Marco.
Marco.
Polo. Marco.
Polo. Stroke, stoke, stroke, stop.
Reach. Nothing. Marco. Polo. Tag!
Marco.
© 2014 Penny Klostermann
Water Confinement
Trickle down, picks
Up tempo, cascades through
My water spout screaming, “Please let
Me out!”
© 2014 Charles Waters
Everyone who sent in one or more cinquains this month will automatically be entered to win a personalized copy of WATER CAN BE.... (One entry per participant, not per poem.) You still have until tomorrow, May 31st, to send me your cinquain. For those who may be too bashful or bogged down to send in a cinquain, you may also enter to win Laura's book by leaving a comment below. If you contributed a cinquain and comment below you will earn two entries in total. Comments must be received no later than Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014.
The winner will be determined by Random.org and announced next Friday, June 6th, when we feature our new Spotlight ON interview and ditty challenge.
Good luck!
It's strawberry season over at Random Noodling.
Be sure to sample all the sweet treats Diane has collected in today's Poetry Friday roundup.
There are some incredible poems here, Michelle! It was a fun challenge. I have to apologize for not sending you mine - I have it written, I just kept forgetting to submit it!
ReplyDeleteYou're still welcome to, Matt-- I would be happy to add it to the rest. I'd love to read it!
DeleteI love this round-up. There's something wonderful about reading them all together.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Monica-- a cinquain smorgasbord!
DeleteI thought I had posted this mid-month, but I guess I didn't, so here it is now:
ReplyDeleteAnd You Thought It Was Just Yucky
Drooling--
continuous
stream of protein-laden
water ensures germ-protected
babies.
(Can you tell there's a baby in the family?)
It's not a bug, it's a feature. ;) Love this, Diane. I moved it up so that everyone can enjoy.
DeleteIt's a wonderful group of poems, Michelle. I thought I'd seen them all, but guess not. Thanks for the round-up, and to Laura for the challenge.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda, both for your wonderful cinquain AND for following along this whole month and commenting along the way. :)
DeleteOh my! I saw some of these as they were posted, but I definitely missed many. Crazy busy month! I just read through these, and they are fantastic! I'll be back this weekend to read again and share a few thoughts. THANK YOU for having me, Michelle, and thank you to everybody who dove in to the water challenge. Wow. Love these. xoxo, Laura
ReplyDeleteAren't these great, Laura?! It's fantastic to see what kind of results your challenge has inspired! Thank you for starting the Ditty of the Month Club off with a splash. :D
DeleteThese are wonderful, Michelle. Thanks for posting the lot. Together, they present a picture of all the ways we interact with water: fun on the log flume, satisfying our curiosity looking for fossils, water to drink, feed the flowers, etc.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it makes quite an impact all together!
DeleteFabulous group of poems, Michelle! Love seeing them all together :).
ReplyDeleteIt's been a great month, but I think this is the best part!
DeleteI loved seeing all the different things poets did with the cinquain water theme! Nice!
ReplyDeleteThe diversity is incredible, isn't it? Thanks for being a part of it, BJ!
DeleteYou gathered quite a profound collection of cinquain, Michelle! Love each and every one of them. Thanks for collecting and sharing. = )
ReplyDeleteIt's been such a joy for me! I hope you'll take part in a challenge at some point too, Bridget. :)
DeleteI love these and will return to savor them. Maybe over some sun tea on the patio. Summer (or spring) is coming to these parts!! So happy to be part of the sharing here, Michelle. You have inspired me to write more water poems! Thanks, too, to Laura.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you were inspired, Janet! Would love to join you on the patio. :)
DeleteMichelle...this collection is a book itself, that I'd like to have had in my classroom years ago. Delightful. Great cinquains, all.
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking the same thing, that it would make a terrific anthology! Thanks for stopping by and commenting today.
DeleteWhat a round-up! Thanks for wrangling them all into one post!
ReplyDeleteI heck of a lot easier than bees, I'd say. ;)
DeleteSuch variety -- wow! People really waded right in! ;-)
ReplyDeleteYou're determined to give my puns a run for their money, aren't you! ;)
DeleteA MORNING PLEA
ReplyDeleteThirsty
wilting leaves say
"Drip, drop, pour, splash, soak, spray--
send me life, sweet blessed wetness
my way."
(c) 2014 Damon Dean
This is lovely, Damon! I'm so glad you joined in.
DeleteMichelle, here's mine! Since I like to always take a different route when it comes to writing, I decided to write a poem about snow - without mentioning it. Hopefully this is ok!
ReplyDeleteEVENING SNOW
The field
across the road
once green with grassy hay
now snuggles sound asleep, tucked in
with stars.
- © 2014 Matt Forrest Esenwine
Beautiful, Matt! Love "tucked in/with stars." And now that you're here, we can *really* get this party started. ;)
DeleteFashionably late, what can I say... ;)
DeleteHow fun to see all those different cinquains together. I liked that several of them landed--both in sound and in description with the two syllables at the end. For example, Kristi Veitenheimer's log ride lands with "Soaked!"; Sarah Monsma's boat trip lands with a "quick dip"; and Mayra Donnell's clouds land when "they cry."
ReplyDeleteGood point, Karin. Having them all together like this, I bet there are other interesting observations we can find as well.
DeleteThese are great! I've never really given the cinquain much thought as a form, but reading these all together makes me see what this form can do. Great idea, Michelle!
ReplyDelete- Carrie
I agree, Carrie. It surprised me how much meaning and emotion can be packed into this short form!
DeleteA wonderful collection of words, wisdom, and water!
ReplyDeleteThank you for participating and following along all month, Margaret!
DeleteWhat an amazing collection of cinquain poems! Thanks so much for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you, Tricia, for stopping by and enjoying them!
DeleteThank you for the roundup! What an amazing variety!
ReplyDeleteAnd even more impressive today than it was yesterday!
DeleteReading these was great fun. I've been meaning to write a cinquain since I read the post about Laura's book. Glad I happened on this notification in my Inbox today. It inspired me to take a few minutes to write a couple and join in the fun! Thanks for brightening my day with this wonderful selection of poems. I'll send mine on to you.
ReplyDeleteLove, Love, LOVE yours, Penny!
DeleteWow, wow, wow. Bookmarking this to return to, Michelle - a veritable treasure trove!
ReplyDeleteIt is! I feel blessed to host them all.
DeleteThanks so much for publishing my cinquain on your blog. It was so exciting to see my poem "in print!"
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Kristi. Thank YOU for jumping right in!
DeleteI know I'm late to the party with this but I have one to share.
ReplyDeleteWATER CONFINEMENT
Droplets
Trickle down, picks
Up tempo, cascades through
My water spout screaming, “Please let
Me out!”
(c) Charles Waters 2014 all rights reserved.
Better late than never! I'm so glad you chose to share this, Charles. The divine moment of release-- ahhhh....
DeleteOK, I read and commented on some of these when they first appeared, but it was so fun reading them all together like this! Here are my favorite bits of the ones I had not read before and commented on:
ReplyDeleteViolet Nesdoly’s rolly and whale watch
Janet Fagal’s wrestle the waves
Linda Baie’s when roots/and ducks cry for darkened/clouds
Sarah Monsma’s image of that keep swinging the fishing pole with the wooden shoe!
Mayra Donnell’s herald the season
Amanda Boyarshinov’s alliteration (I’m a sucker for alliteration
George Heidenrich’s progression of snow from white to gray to black—that’s how we know winter is ending here in Minnesota: when everything turns grey and brown
Monica Gudlewski’s starry silver current—gorgeous!
Jan Gars’ The giant water dragon swims / Beneath (loved my trip to Loch Ness)
B.J. Lee’s hunches into itself
Barbara Bockman – love the way you brought the silly into this challenge!
Keri Collins Lewis’ opening two lines – love that simple voice
Diane Mayr’s germ-protected/babies – who would ever expect those to go together?
Damon Dean’s wilting leaves
Keri Collins Lewis’ creek/coughs up the past—great verb!
Matt Forrest Esenwine’s tucked in/with stars – love that magical mood
Jennifer McNamara’s jetty black tunnel—not jet black, but jetty black—intriguing
Penny Klostermann’s first and last lines being the same in the never-ending game of Marco Polo—sometimes I think I spent five years playing that game in the community pool as a kid:>)
Charles Waters’ surprising ending—water screaming?—love it!
Thanks for having me here, Michelle!
Are you kidding? Thank YOU, Laura. And for all of these individualized comments too!
DeleteAnd thank you for all the beautiful poems, everyone!
ReplyDelete