Friday, April 4, 2014

Desert Cinquain

Today is Poetry Friday and Amy hosts the roundup at The Poem Farm. Stop by and enjoy all the exciting stops for this first Friday of National Poetry Month. My goal for the month is to write a cinquain each day. Here is the next installment.
File:Kalahari PICT0036 .JPG
Photo by Winfried Bruenken

Kalahari Crossing

Nattered
by tsetse flies,
plagued by malaria,
bedeviled by hunger and thirst,
I sit

beneath
my small shade and
wait, bone-weary, wasting,
as a tyrant sun strolls across
the sky.

© Doraine Bennett

File:Lion and baboon 1.jpg
Photo by Charles J. Sharp




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12 comments:

  1. Linda BApril 4, 2014 at 1:50 PM

    I've been trying some haiku, Dori, attempting to pare down my wordiness, & now your lovely cinquain offers still another way to practice. I love the word 'nattered'. The Kalahari is fascinating to think about isn't it? Thanks for this thoughtful poem.

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    1. DoraineApril 4, 2014 at 5:22 PM

      I agree, Linda. Cinquains and Haikus force you to think in small bites.

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  2. Michelle Heidenrich BarnesApril 4, 2014 at 2:59 PM

    How wonderful to give yourself permission to take the whole month and focus on just one form. I thoroughly enjoyed this sojourn into the desert. "...as a tyrant sun strolls across/the sky" is a brilliant line.

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    1. DoraineApril 4, 2014 at 5:22 PM

      Thank you, Michelle. I hadn't really thought of it as giving myself permission, but yes, that's what I'm learning to do. Permission is such a great accomplishment, isn't it?

      Delete
  3. Irene LathamApril 4, 2014 at 10:49 PM

    Oh that tyrant sun! I've just completed another draft of a survival story set in Death Valley... deserts on my mind! Love this project, Doraine. xo

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  4. Tara @ A Teaching LifeApril 4, 2014 at 11:02 PM

    I love the discipline of your goal, and the discipline of the format, Dori. And the use of Nattered" - so perfect.

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    1. DoraineApril 6, 2014 at 4:06 PM

      Well, here's to one week, almost of discipline. They say it takes three to build a habit.

      Delete
  5. Mary LeeApril 6, 2014 at 9:14 AM

    I, too, love "nattered." What made you decide to write about the Kalahari?

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    1. DoraineApril 6, 2014 at 4:12 PM

      A few years ago, I wrote a book of reader's theater scripts on explorers. I suppose I chose the topic in the first place because I have always enjoyed explorer tales. But I was really drawn into some of the stories. I've played with different formats with different stories, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The poetry format has just been fun, using different styles and different forms. Anyway, David Livingstone was one who captivated me. He crossed the Kalahari on his first excursion into Africa. Nattered was actually one of his words, and I loved it.

      Delete
  6. Amy LVApril 7, 2014 at 6:51 AM

    That "tyrant sun!" It is wonderful to read this, to think about how writing about a completely new place gives a person a completely new bank of words with which to work. This spare poem matches its subject absolutely perfectly. Thank you...sorry for my late visits this Poetry Friday!

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  7. Robyn Hood BlackApril 7, 2014 at 10:18 AM

    ..."wait, bone-weary, wasting,
    as a tyrant sun strolls across
    the sky."

    Gorgeous writing, Doraine! Thanks for sharing your challenge with us.

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