It’s a Poetry Quadfecta this week! It’s the last Friday of the month which means it is time for the Poetry Sisters’ challenge AND it’s the last day of March which means it’s National Poetry Month Eve AND the Poetry Friday roundup is here PLUS the 2023 Progressive Poem will launch right here tomorrow morning! (See sidebar for links to the rest of the lines/month.)
Let’s start off with my poem for the Poetry Sisters’ challenge. This month, we wrote etherees, a poetry form that begins with one syllable in the first line and continues growing each line by a syllable until the tenth line has ten syllables. Additionally, we tried to stick to our year-long theme of transformation. I’m using my etheree to announce my Poetry Month project.
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
I wrote my etheree to announce my National Poetry Month project, which will be a month of cheritas.
This year, my National Poetry Month project will feature the cherita form. At the website The Cherita, the form is defined thus: “Cherita is the Malay word for story or tale. A cherita consists of a single stanza of a one-line verse, followed by a two-line verse, and then finishing with a three-line verse…The cherita tells a story.” Like last year, I will be publishing my poems daily at Poetrepository and crossposting here each Friday for Poetry Friday.
And now, for your poems! Click to add your link to the roundup:
A(nother) Year of Reading 
Hi, Mary Lee. Wow. It really is a quadfecta! Thank you for rounding us up today. I am picturing my hollyhock seeds (so excited!!) waiting patiently in their packet, as described in your poem. The hoop is up on our raised bed, which means I can get those seeds started at last.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi, thank you for the roundup, Mary Lee.
I’ve only done three or four Poetry Fridays and have wanted to get back to it very often over the last few months, but haven’t had the time. So, it’s fitting to get myself into gear with April and National Poetry Month coming up.
Cheritas! What a lovely NPM project. I look forward to reading yours and to enjoying spring and poetry this month.
LikeLike
Yippee for the etheree! I love it. I look forward to the cheritas, too. Thank you for rounding up, Mary Lee.
LikeLike
Oh, those garden store spinners. Even though I’ve NEVER been a gardener of any skill (and, really, one of only fairly little effort) those lines about the tightly sealed packets and those spinners just took me straight back to the nostalgic five and dime of my youth. What a lovely etheree! Thanks for hosting, Mary Lee!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mary Lee, I love your NPM project. Cheritas are fun little stories to write and read. I look forward to your packages of joy. Talking about joy, your etheree transforms seeds into flowering blooms in 10 lines. Thanks for hosting PF. Your poetic bounty delivered today is appreciated. I am still working on my etheree.
LikeLike
Instead of adding my etheree last night, I feel asleep. Grogging-me this morning added my link only to find out it didn’t work. My working link is #25. Sorry for the bloop.
LikeLike
What a powerful etheree poem coming from those “seeds,” I love it! I have some seeds inside that have swelled and split and popped out of their soil–ah how exciting to watch! Looking forward to more sprouts appearing here for NPM–thanks for hosting Mary Lee!
LikeLike
I especially love the last line of your etheree, Mary Lee. “raucous” is a great word, and who can resist butterly kisses? Looking forward to reading your cheritas.
LikeLike
Lovely etheree — and such a clever way to introduce your NPM project. Looking forward to it! Thanks for hosting this week. 🙂
LikeLike
Oh, Mary Lee, what a joy to imagine the transformation of those zinnia seeds on the “store spinners” to the “raucous splash of blooms kissed by butterflies” – What a beautiful and eyeful of a sentence that is! Thanks for hosting today.
LikeLike
Wow, and I thought I was busy! A quadfecta, indeed – and a beautiful etheree. I love the idea of the seeds dreaming of loamy dirt. Thanks for hosting today!
LikeLike
I’m waiting for that “raucous splash” already, Mary Lee, and love the background visual, too, for Poetry Month. Your big quadfecta weekend is filled up for sure. Thanks for hosting
LikeLike
Using an Etheree to introduce your Cherita poem project- now that must qualify as a first, surely Mary Lee? Good luck climbing Mt Cherita in the coming month. It sounds like a rather beguiling challenge and a month of poetic pearls and possibilities. Enjoy every April day. Thank you for hosting too.
LikeLike
How fun is the word quadfecta!? Your etheree is just gorgeous and the word choice is perfect throughout. Even those garden display racks sound enchanting in your poem! The final line is just …wow! “raucous splash” is perfection in so many ways! I can’t wait to watch your NPM project bloom. Thanks for hosting today!
LikeLike
Oh, such patience and hope. Your etheree makes me happy here in chilly Buffalo, and I look forward to your month of poems as always! I have never written a cherita and am excited to read them and to learn. I wish you a good month of journeying, and am glad we’ll be monthy partners. Thank you for hosting today with all of the goodness! xo, a.
LikeLike
Thank you for the roundup! And Poetry Month Eve sounds so delightful. I didn’t realize the Cherita was Malaysian. I went to high school there. I’ve written a couple before without realizing the origins.
LikeLike
I adore the slow-building pace of your etheree. What joy! Your poems are always filled with beauty, and composed with precision and care. I look forward to your poetry project– just saying the word “cheritas” make me smile. Here’s to seeing what blooms in April! Thank you for balancing all the things in the quadfecta.
LikeLike
So much we can learn from seeds! Beautiful. Thank you for all this poetic goodness, Mary Lee. xo
LikeLike
“Seeds / know best / how to wait.” I am an impatient gardener, and I appreciate the reminder that I am not always in charge. I can’t resist those garden store spinners, and I love the thought of seeds dreaming! Can’t wait to see what the rest of the month brings!
LikeLike
Seeds know all kinds of things best! This develops so beautifully, growing in complexity from sparer words to generous, raucous ones. Thank you for kicking us off in so many ways this month, Mary Lee! Can’t wait for TOMORROW!
LikeLike
Zinnias know their time is coming! Good luck with your NPM project and thanks for rounding us up! xo
LikeLike
What a wonderful NPM project, Mary Lee – and your etheree is amazing on SO many levels! (The seeds patiently waiting is a great reminder for me in this “Is it spring yet?” time of year.)
LikeLike
Here’s to blooming cheritas! And thanks for the lovely etheree. Happy Spring/Happy Poetry Month!
LikeLike
I know that garden store “spinners” are merely the carousel racks full of seeds for sale, but with the word “spinner,” I’m launched off into sparklers spinning and whirligigs in the garden – and suddenly that line is full of magic and sparkles. I love your entire etheree.
How funny that cheritas are SUPPOSED TO BE stories in five lines… and I went with cinquains. *sigh* I look forward to this NPM project, even as I look forward to your actual zinnias, of which I am a teensy bit envious (in my last house they didn’t thrive – crossing fingers for this full-sun yard).
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing Mary Lee! Your poem made me smile, and think of the seeds I planted last fall. I can practically feel them starting to set out roots… Happy Poetry Month Eve!
LikeLike
I love that your etheree is blooming with potential, Mary Lee. And I look forward to you cheritas all month long. I apologize for double linking on your Mr. Linky widget. I’m not sure how to remove the second link to my last week post…if you know how, I’d much appreciate the removal. Anyway, thanks for hosting and sorry for my linky snafu.
LikeLike
These seeds! So patient and yet so eager — brought to life! Love this poem, and can’t wait for your month FULL of cheritas!!
LikeLike
Etherees and Cheritas and Progressive Poem – oh my! I love April! A raucous splash of blooms indeed! Thank you, Mary Lee.
LikeLike
Thank you for hosting, Mary Lee. I adore this poem! I haven’t gotten any seeds yet, but spring break is just days away, so I’m ready to raid those “garden store spinners.”
LikeLike