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The Poetry Sisters challenge for this month was composing tricubes — poems with three stanzas, three lines in each stanza, and three syllables in each line. At our pep talk/work session last Sunday, we wondered collectively if we would post a single tricube, or if it made sense for them to come in groups of three.
Obviously, I decided on three.
The first was written after I went for a walk about two-thirds of the way through our total snow accumulation. It was magical. So quiet, so peaceful.
The second is not meant to take away from the tragedy of the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, but instead as a reminder that we need to guard ourselves from compartmentalizing our outrage and make sure we don’t just mourn the deaths of those who might look like us or love like us.
The third is a memo to myself that joy is a valid form of resistance, as are creativity and self care. There is a time to march, a time to call senators and send emails, a time to sign petitions…and a time to bake bread, mend a shirt, or stitch a memory from last fall’s trip to Norway.
Here’s what the other Poetry Sisters came up with this month:
Laura @ Laura Purdie Salas
Liz @ Liz Garton Scanlon
Sara @ Read Write Believe
Tanita @ {fiction, instead of lies}
Tricia @ The Miss Rumphius Effect
Amy has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at The Poem Farm.
(All three poems and the image are ©Mary Lee Hahn, 2026)
A(nother) Year of Reading 
This is a stunning piece and I am impressed by your craft moves. I am also deeply moved by the layers of meaning that are embedded within this.
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Thank you, Mary Lee, for these. Much needed in these dark days. Love your enture post, especially “Yes, But.”
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Mary Lee,
I had never heard of a tricube. Another form to put on my list to try. Thank you. Each poem is so full of emotion and meaning in its own right, yet they make the perfect package of three for this week. I appreciate how your titles are part of the poem and set the scene for us. Brilliant! May “snow’s whispers” remind us of the peace that is to be found.
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Hooray for three tri-cubes. Each, heartfelt. Nothing beats the peace of a snowy day. I loved it too–until the ice began to pelt. Now, we have a perfect, solid, shiny skin of ice over everything. Beautiful in it’s way…but also tough! This week has helped me find joy in creating. Thanks for the reminder.
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“joy is a valid form of resistance” thank you for that. And for all three poems. I especially love the snow one, with its evocative sounds and final silence.
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I adore you, Mary Lee. That first one is TRADEMARK YOU. The second one, I read aloud in a quivery voice. And the third, yes. Thank goodness. We cannot forget. xo
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I especially like the build and transition in your three ticubes, they hold together well. My tricube poems share similar focus though ends with nature, thanks.
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In your wonderful tricube poems, I felt I was taking a walk with you. Through the snow! At a march! At your sewing table!
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Love these all, but the cosplaying line hit me hard. Thank you for sharing.
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Your tricubes sing, Mary Lee! I especially like the flow in “Yes, but” as well as its message. And thank you for the mantra “take good care of your heart.” Poetry certainly helps.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you. The “yes, but…” needs to be said louder for the people in the back.
And of course we had to do THREE tricubes. I mean… it’s the LAW. The snow’s “shhh, shh, shh” reminds me so much of Still, Still, Still, a quiet carol that never gets enough airtime.
♥Take good care.
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FYI — “take good care/of your heart” is a direct quote from you! You said it at the end of our meetup and I promptly did a syllable count and jotted it down!
One of the ways I take good care of my heart is to store in it all of the times you write, “remember, you are so well loved.” Thank you for being gracious, generous, loving YOU!
Are we going to agree to write tricubes for Poetry Month? I think we should!
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…and in the way that all the best things go, I say that because someone once said it to me, and it so heartened me that I thought we should all hear it more often. I love that it lifts you up, too.
Meanwhile, YES! National Poetry Month project acquired!!!
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Mary Lee, I read your post in the wee hours of the morning when I finished mine. I sit hear now rereading your poems. I am amazed by the different themes and styles of your tricubes. The first one shares sounds that we could hear – even winter’s silence has a ring to it. The issue of unwarranted deaths is such a horror-thanks for this one. The last tricube is just what I needed to read. Thank your for your creativity and your path to justice.
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That snow whispering through the oak leaves is really lovely, Mary Lee. 💖 Everyone seems to have taken to tricubes like ducks to water.
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Our minds dance between contrasting ideas and thoughts. Your Tricube collection expertly captures the wonderful diversity of thought and action. Your Tricubes are impactful and stand alone and together quite naturally, Mary Lee.
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Mary Lee, these are all beautiful.
“Yes, But” also made me think of the children — five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos … the tiny, two-year-old daughter of Elvis Tipan-Echeverria ….
Thank you for this post, and for your thoughts (and creativity) about radical resistance. ❤️
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Three very different tricubes for the win!
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Mary Lee, these are fabulous! Each one stands beautifully alone, but together, they really augment each other. I’ve read them a couple of times now, and each time, I’m so impressed by how impeccably crafted they are. Wow!
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Dear ML, Each one of these matches a moment for me right now, each a moment so perfectly articulated by you. Thank you for always helping me find something inside. Also, this form. I have seen it before, but I have never tried it and now will. Something about so few words brings us to the essence. xo for the week ahead. a.
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So much to hold onto here, Mary Lee. Joy as resistance and heartache that is a daily thing in this country. Thank you!
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