Prime Cycles
A Year End Reflection
Rose-colored glasses tinge my year end reflection like bitter wine. Such as recalling my golden years on Medium. For the record, I’m still an editor there for Poetry Playground, but in reality, I don’t edit much. I just occasionally post a poem when nostalgia peaks and I break. Then remember how bleak it’s become for me.
Nonetheless, I am grateful for my yield, the community, and the many forms of poetry learned. While I love free verse for the freedom of that style, the confines of more structured forms squeeze the juices of constraint. They become a sort of meditation. Like pondering a koan.
Here is one example, a prime 53 poem:
Total syllable count of 53 Eleven total lines First three stanzas are three lines each with a 7 / 5 / 3 syllable count Final stanza must be two lines with a 5 / 3 syllable count, for a total syllable count of 53 Rhyme scheme (slant/soft rhymes work) aba cdc efe gg
My response was inspired by a quote:
The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long
— Lao Tzu
Prime Cycles
Suppressed sounds have fire to speak
become volcanos
that must peak
From erupting fumes that loom
lose definition
way too soon
Leaving just their hollow crust
covered in ashes
of stardust
Of those that burn bright
we ignite
***
If you decide to try a prime 53 poem, please tag me. I would love to see your prime examples.