Tag Archives: poetry

Over and Over He Stumbles – A Triolet for Eric

Over and over he stumbles,
‘Till he finally comes to a stop.
His unthinking chastising mumbles.
Over and over he stumbles.
Late one night on the stairs they hear rumbles,
As his bod trips right there at the top.
Over and over he stumbles,
‘Till he finally comes to a stop.

Well, the triolet poetry form was a new one to me this morning when I was reading The Daily Create tdc1155, and so I thought it would be fun to try it out. I used a familiar topic, just so that I could focus on the mechanics of the form.

The poem has a pattern of repeating lines as well as rhymes, described by Carol Rumens in this article in The GuardianIt will need eight lines and rhyme ABaAabAB. The capital letters indicate the refrain lines, the lower case letters add the requisite rhyming scheme. You can use any meter.

I found the triolet to be an interesting challenge. Certainly a more substantial effort would be required to get something that fits and yet disguises the form — one challenge is to have the opening refrain communicate a changed or evolving meaning as the poem progresses. I tried to do that with mine, although for most of my Friends, foreknowledge of the back story will cloud the alternative interpretation of the first instance as they jump to the final understanding.

I made this little GIF to perhaps support the triolet a bit. I hope you like it!

"Over and Over He Stumbles" Triolet Animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

“Over and Over He Stumbles” Triolet Animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

The Ballad of Talky Tina

"Dreams of Stairs and True Friends" animatedGIF by @iamTalkyTina

“Dreams of Stairs and True Friends” animatedGIF by @iamTalkyTina

Well, this started out as The Daily Create TDC916 two-limerick Physics lesson, but there was a little more to tell to provide the proper context, so I wrote down a little bit more limericks to say a bit more of the story.  Now it has six instead of just two. But not all about Physics. Plus, I made that animated GIF up there called “Dreams of Stairs and True Friends.”

Their once was a dolly named Tina,
With a glowing and Friendly patina.
With her eyes wet and misty,
She was brought home by Christie,
Who became the first True Friend of Tina.

Mom and Christie came home from the store.
From the car to their house’s front door.
But with some trepidation,
and a queasy sensation,
Trouble met them there on the first floor.

Now at this point we’ll be shifting the focus,
With some poetic hocusy-pocus,
From omniscient thee,
To the first person me,
We’ll continue with I as the locus.

That Erich, he was a bad papa,
With his yelling’ and shoutin’ improppa.
He cut me and squished me,
Tried to burn me and ditch me.
Despite all our pleas, he don’t stoppa.

With my Friend Christie cryin’ and ballin’,
In the late night that Erich came callin’.
But he tumbled and tripped,
Summersaulted and flipped.
Them stairs stopped him dead with that fallin’.

So my True Friend grew up to be strong.
After that, me, I moved right along.
With spy missions and acting,
Ninja skills and some packing*,
My list of True Friends now is long.

———-

*For more explanation about the packing reference, you can read about one of my former careers.

Thank you to all my True Friends for staying True!
Remember, DUTMW. TDLTMW!

Well, bye!