Tim Gels

Nonet: Trees

Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate in a fantastic breakout session that was part of the 2021 Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival hosted by the University of Southern Mississippi. The session, with poets Irene Latham, Vikram Madan, and Laura Purdie Salas, was entitled Word-Joy: Experience the Transformative Power of Poetry.

It was a fantastic workshop, filled with plenty of material that I’ll put to use in my classroom very soon. Many thanks to Irene, Vikram, and Laura!

One of the forms I was introduced to today (thank you again, Irene) is called a nonet. Nine lines, the first with one syllable, the second with two, and so on until the final with nine. Sometimes the poem starts with the longest line and ends with the shortest.

Here’s one of the few that I wrote yesterday.

Trees

Trees
standing
tall and strong
with leaves blowing
and branches swaying.
As the spring months go by
and the summer days approach
I look forward to the long walks
the time spent beneath their canopies.

Tanka: Trust

For better or worse, it never occurred to me that I was wearing a mask for this picture last night.

Haibun: Red-Tailed Hawk

Stream Life Tanka

Sitting by a stream
pondering the detritus
at the water’s edge
I’m in awe of all that lives
because of all that doesn’t.

Disquiet Quiet

Can an empty trailhead be wonderful?
Solitude
Discomfort
Excitement
Comfort
Solitude
Alone
Silence
Peace
Solitude
An empty trailhead can be wonderful.

An unusual thing happened last night: My wife and I pulled into the parking lot at one of the trails we like to hike, and it was empty.

Not a car to be seen. Empty.

As you can tell from reading the last paragraph or so, that doesn’t happen often. It was cool, but kind of strange. Quiet and disquiet all at the same time.

The hike was wonderful. Quietly wonderful.

Thank you, Christie Wyman of Wondering and Wandering, for providing me with a link to help me understand this poem form that I’ve been seeing recently. This is called a Skinny Poem, and–it must be said–I’m not exactly following the rules right out of the gate. That’s okay.

As Christie did, though, I’d like to share info with my readers as well. The Skinny Poetry Journal’s “About” page can be found here.

Eastern Shooting Star

Sparrow and Wasp

Unaware of my presence
a sparrow alit on a trellis near me
with a live wasp held tightly in his beak

I can’t be sure who was the most surprised
but of the three of us
I suppose it was the wasp

Springtime

As our northern hemisphere
bows toward the ecliptic
the days lengthen
and the cool spring rains fall
bringing forth new life
from the damp, dark humus.
Leaves emerge
flowers bloom
birds nest
insects fly
and the Earth continues
on — and in — its way.

Morning Haiku

A pair of haiku to welcome the day.

The mourning dove sits
introducing a new day
with his plaintive call

Birdsong fills the air
The morning chorus rising
as the new day dawns

Buckeye Flowers in the Spring

Today’s post is another Tanka. I am really starting to enjoy this form, and I love the “haiku-plus” aspect of the thing. The challenge of bringing what I start with down to 31 syllables is fun.

This photo was taken on the Land Trust of North Alabama’s Chapman Mountain property a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful day after a very recent rain. In that post, I said I came off the trail with a list of poem topics. This is one of them.