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The Poetry Sisters’ challenge this month was to write a raccontino, a poem that tells a story starting in the title and continuing in the end words of the odd-numbered lines of couplets that contain even-line rhymes. Not at all complicated. Oh, no. Not at all.
Did you try one? Did you start with the story and the rhyme-scheme (that was my method), or did you just write from your heart and knead that dough until it fit the form?
As with any challenge, after the gnashing of the teeth and the tearing of the hair, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.
Then I remembered our year-long sub-challenge of writing “in conversation.” Oops.
And yet, the unwritten text of the poem is steeped in human conversation — vetting two companies before we chose one, using Google Translate to communicate with the Brazilian Portuguese-speaking crew who did all the work — as well as in figurative conversations between noise and silence, destruction and repair.
Tanita has her poem, along with this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at {fiction, instead of lies}, and the rest of the sisters’ poems are here:
Laura @ Laura Purdie Salas
Tricia @ The Miss Rumphius Effect
Sara @ Read Write Believe
Liz @ Liz Garton Scanlon
Next week, on Friday, July 4, please consider joining the Inklings in writing poems of protest for our nation’s birthday. Let’s use our voices and our art to make some noise! Feel free to write in praise of democracy and patriotism if you’re so moved, or write in frustration and befuddlement over the “leadership” in the White House and/or Congress and/or the courts and/or and/or and/or. The roundup will be here!
A(nother) Year of Reading 
<i>…birdsong that envelopes/
us gently, helps us retrieve/
the calm…</i>
…lovely.
But, Cousin, you penned this with WORKMEN around the place??? And made it look easy?? Good grief.
Hats off to you for your use of Google Translate (for on the fly translation deepl.com is also excellent – better for colloquial languages, I find).
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Mary Lee, your poem flows beautifully with a story to tell. Your word choice amplified your thoughts. Kudos to you.
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I loved the idea of this challenge and your resulting poem is wonderful. I haven’t had a chance to attempt anything much lately, but am tucking this away for future summer “fun”. Enjoy your newly discovered silence–I’m sure it’s all the sweeter for the brief(?) interruption.
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I know well that ringing silence after the workman go. We renovated this house in stages, year after year, and I am so glad to be done. Let the birdsong reign! (And my husband is investing in a water feature for the back patio, so more lovely non-construction sounds.)
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This form, I’m learning as I hop-skip through PF posts is challenging! I am loving all the different takes on how to create story and fit the form. I think I am prone to setting up the form first and then trying to fit a story into it…but the idea of kneading a poem’s dough later intrigues me. I definitely will be giving this form a try. I feel like I need to be warmed up first! I so look forward to next week’s poetry!
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Oh, this is lovely–I FEEL your relief: gently, grace, peace, reprieve…hooray for it being done! We’ve only once had what I consider a big renovation: a bathroom redone, replacing a shower with a big tub, etc. It felt like ages! I can’t imagine people who have whole houses done, or areas like the kitchen done. Ugh. Thanks for your lovely poem. We’re entering a time of home chaos just from having one of our daughters unexpectedly move in with us for a few months. Not nearly as noisy as construction, but still…breaking the peace of Randy’s retirement, etc. We’re glad we can help, but I’m sure we’ll be happy when the reprieve comes too.
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The photo itself was noisy! I can imagine the noise of construction. What a great way to use what was happening in the moment to inform your poem. I took a nod from you and created one using an obituary for a friend in which her son described her kindness. When I went to her service this morning, I was glad that I had written it.
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Ouch that picture speaks loudly of the chaos that ensues a live-in-home construction project, we went through that last year when we had our two-story porch rebuilt. Love the birds nestled in your poem—now you and the house can breathe deeply, enjoy!
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I know that form must be challenging, but you made it look easy, Mary Lee. I will definitely be trying it. I think I would come up with the story line first, then figure out a good rhyming word. Stay tuned. Will try to jump in next week with a poem of protest.
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Mary Lee, I’m convinced every poem is in conversation with the poet’s world –so GO YOU! It’s beauty lies in “Our ears ring in the sudden silence” — I just love the contradiction: silence…conversation.
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I very much enjoyed the introduction and explanation of your raccantino poem. Mary Lee. This is a poetry form that appeals in its inherent challenge. ‘The grace of peace’ is a line that jumps out at me. Our world is so overwhelmed at times by the generation of noise and hullabaloo. Your poem speaks so strongly to that notion.
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I LOVE this Mary Lee! First, I love the story you chose and I think it definitely fits the theme of conversation. No project can happen without LOTS of conversation. 🙂 I can relate to this too, after having our basement flood last year and spending I-don’t-know-how-long listening to the industrial fans running down there. Ugh! 😀
“…retrieve the calm” — yes!
Nailed it!
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I almost wanted to sigh in relief with you when I reached the end of the poem. You’ve captured so well the gift of silence. Love this.
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Nice job! You all have made me want to try this form! Amazing!
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Amazing! You have made me want to try this form–even though I know it’s a puzzle!
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