This month, the Poetry Sisters wrote Cascade poems that perhaps address our year-long theme of “Transformation.” The form is cookie-cutter easy, but evocative-images hard. I wrote plenty of the first kind before I found the first stanza of this draft in my notebook jottings on January 2.
Here’s what the rest of the Poetry Sisters came up with this month:
Tricia @ The Miss Rumphius Effect
Tanita @ {fiction, instead of lies}
Sara @ Read Write Believe
Laura @ Laura Purdie Salas
Liz @ Liz Garton Scanlon
Kelly @ Kelly Ramsdell (stay tuned…it’s written, but not on the cruise with her!)
In February, we’ll be writing Ekphrastic poems. If you’d like to join us, find a piece of art that moves you to write. Bonus points for including the theme “Transformation.”
Jan, at Bookseed Studio, is our kind and gracious hostess for this week’s Poetry Friday roundup.
The image of the hawk is via Unsplash.
A(nother) Year of Reading 
Thanks, Mary Lee. Love your transformation of the hawk with others and then alone and that it grants permission to perch. “Murmuration” is a great word!
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Things got a little hawkward up there! Your cascade poem is tip top in the ‘evocative-images’ department, Mary Lee. Agreed, murmuration is a terrific word and works perfectly here. Well done. 🙂
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Lovely use of nature as a metaphor for what we all need, permission to swerve away and perch. Thanks for being my teacher in this challenge.
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Well, you KNOW I’m going to love the murmuration here. But also, somehow you wrote a cascade poem that allows the repetition to slip into the background rather that take center stage — I LOVE how natural and subtle this is!!
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Your poem flows with imagery! This form is new to me. I look forward to reading all of the Cascade poems this weekend.
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Wow. You made this poem so utterly spare so every line stands out, like those winter tree branches against the sky. SO gorgeous. And I agree with Liz—kudos for allowing the repetition to play a subtle role. This form is amazingly versatile!
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I’m with Sara. The words are few but so well chosen and flow seamlessly. I love that I can picture this all so clearly. Well done.
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It is a kind thought to think of receiving permission to “swerve away”, Mary Lee, for the coming year.
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Nice job! What beautiful images you created; sometimes I’m lucky enough to spot a hawk on a bare branch in our back yard and you captured this majestic sight perfectly.
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WOW, another winner for the three-line form. I have got to find my way to spare and evocative as you do so well, Cousin. I love the idea of swerving away to perch and survey the world a while. This is indeed the yin to my poetic yang this month!
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Very nice, Mary Lee! Y’all make this form look easy. I like the idea of an Ekphrastic poem; Natasha Trethewey writes some beautiful ones. Maybe I’ll give it a try, too
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Mary Lee, crafting this elegant raptor poem in cascade form is artwork, especially with the M-word we are all so enamored of. I’m very appreciative of You.
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I can feel the swaying, swerving movement of that hawk especially in your closing lines—and whoa watch out other birds, I do love all your “m” sounds too, and gorgeous pic, thanks Mary Lee!
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I love how your poem grew from a first draft in your notebook, Mary Lee. The process of rereading older words is invaluable to the writer/poet. It is an under-rated action. It so often leads to a ‘transformation’ in terms of words and structure. The result- your engrossing poem. I have recently spent a week in the wilderness watching birds, so I am finding a strong connection to your wonderful words.
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Beautiful Mary Lee. I love that you found notebook lines to get started. And, like others, I love murmuration.
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This one is a triumph of word choice: every line offering an echo of “pERmission,” the swirling, swerving and perching and the way the overall message emerges from the–yes, subtle–repetition of lines. Brava.
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Just a few words…but from a murmuration a stark story and beautiful poem. You are a master!
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The repetition is so gentle and soothing. This is gorgeous!
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Loving all the “er” sounds throughout and how it transforms from a focus on the hawk to become a lesson for the viewer. Like several others commented, I also like how spare this cascade is. So beautifully crafted!
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I really love the “ur” sounds in this beautiful poem.
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This is gorgeous, Mary Lee, and I can’t wait to see what you all come up with throughout the year of Transformation.
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I love the hawk going from watching to watched.
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I so love all the ur sounds in this poem, Mary Lee. And the hawk’s unexpected action. Figuring out when I need to swerve away and when I need to lean into something… It’s always something I need to give more thought to.
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I just read Tanita’s wonderful Introvert poem and hear the resonance with your hawk’s call to swerve away and perch.
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This is a beautiful poem, Mary Lee. I’m fascinated by this form. Your second stanza really pops for me. I’ve reread it and reread it. I look forward to learning more about this form.
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