week 249 ~ the rustle of aspen leaves

Celebrating a Year

week 249 ~ the rustle of aspen leaves

with 18 comments

the rustle of aspen leaves
a sanctuary of peace
unravel old time’s rent sleeve
and savor the sweet release

a sanctuary of peace
so laugh throw away the key
and savor the sweet release
when there’s nothing left to be

so laugh throw away the key
there’s no need to lock the door
when there’s nothing left to be
you require nothing more

there’s no need to lock the door
as your demons disappear
you require nothing more
what you’re searching for is here

as your demons disappear
unravel old time’s rent sleeve
what you’re searching for is here
the rustle of aspen leaves

Written by mairmusic

July 22, 2013 at 2:18 pm

Posted in July, pantoum

Tagged with aspen, island, peace, peacefulness, time

18 Responses

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A most delightful verse…full of relaxation.

slpmartin

July 22, 2013 at 6:22 pm

Reply
- Thanks– the sound is mesmerizing.
  
  mairmusic
  
  July 23, 2013 at 9:10 am
  
  Reply
what you are searching for is right here…
something that takes a bit of learning…love the leaf rustle too…
a peaceful verse, with a nice dance of repetition…

brian miller

July 23, 2013 at 4:42 pm

Reply
- thanks– the pantoum is an interesting form to work with.
  
  mairmusic
  
  July 23, 2013 at 4:48 pm
  
  Reply
A wannabe Brasileira? Onde voce mora? Sou Americano que mora no estado do Rio de Janeiro…best of luck! ~peace, Jason

lovemorestudio

July 23, 2013 at 9:44 pm

Reply
- Muito legal! Eu moro nos EUA, mas estou no Rio 2 ou 3 meses por ano para tocar Choro.
  
  mairmusic
  
  July 23, 2013 at 9:54 pm
  
  Reply
  - Uau! Parabens…um dia que vem vc vai ficar Brasiliera com certeza! :)
    
    lovemorestudio
    
    July 23, 2013 at 10:06 pm
  - Claro! (;
    
    mairmusic
    
    July 24, 2013 at 12:01 am
I’ve seen that form before. I couldn’t remember that it was a pantoum, but I liked the graceful flow. Thanks,

Waltermarks

July 23, 2013 at 10:29 pm

Reply
- I discovered it from an online writing friend. It’s fun to play with the repetition yet transformation of the lines.
  
  mairmusic
  
  July 24, 2013 at 12:03 am
  
  Reply
I have enjoyed reading this poem, especially the lyrical rhythm and playful repetition.

Apryl Gonzales Sweet (@SweetApryl)

July 23, 2013 at 10:49 pm

Reply
- Thanks!
  
  mairmusic
  
  July 24, 2013 at 12:03 am
  
  Reply
Well done, great topic and content for the form.

SSMatthews

July 24, 2013 at 9:13 am

Reply
- Thanks my friend.
  
  mairmusic
  
  July 26, 2013 at 12:24 am
  
  Reply
freedom…bliss…peace

KATiE MiA FredericK!

July 24, 2013 at 6:46 pm

Reply
- Truly.
  
  mairmusic
  
  July 26, 2013 at 12:24 am
  
  Reply
A graceful poem full of peace. Lovely!

Jamie Dedes

July 28, 2013 at 2:24 am

Reply
- Thanks, my friend. Written on the island by hand complete with cross-outs and all the edits I sometimes forget about when writing on a computer. But I had to capture the feeling.
  
  mairmusic
  
  July 28, 2013 at 10:54 am
  
  Reply

Who am I?

A mandolinist, a bandolimist, a writer, a photographer, a wannabe Brasileira. Check my webpage for information on my music and my sometimes life in Rio.

What is this?

I made a plan, beginning on my birthday- October 16, 2008 - to keep creativity in focus in my daily life, spontaneously, reflectively, and with intention, by setting in motion several series of small events. Every day I take a photo and record a thought. Every week I write a poem and post a photograph of myself in the context of my life. i don't post every day, but I maintain the schedule of each series and post as often as I can. Before I began I wrote, "I think this will be fun, may be interesting, and will result in a considered year of small moments stolen from a busy life and strung together to make... who knows? At this point it's just a plan. Wish me luck~ here goes!"

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“Years 2 – 6” — so what’s changed?

I decided to continue on after a year, because this document had become a treasured reflective spot in my life. There are some changes in "Year 2," expanding options for my weekly poem beyond sonnet to add some other forms-- rondeau or triolet, villanelle. I added the decima in late January 2010, and the pantoum in August. Definitions of each form appear below. I continue to post a photo daily, but may post several pictures taken on one day over the course of a week if I have an interesting series. I may even post an old photo if I'm writing about something I'm thinking back to. I'll continue to have fun with this project; I hope you will too. For Year 3 I tried including other people in the self-portraits that accompany my poems, adding "Musical Sundays" to post mp3s of my music, but these petered out in a few months. This is simply a place for my daily thoughts & photos, and weekly poems in the forms I love. Onward...!

The material on these pages belongs to me

Everything published here was created especially for this project and is owned and copyright by me. When the project is complete I may do something concrete with some of it. So enjoy, but please, if you want to share more than a quote or two send people here, don't displace my work from its context or authorship.

What’s a sonnet?

A sonnet is a 14-line iambic pentameter poem with a unique and characteristic rhyme scheme. They have been written in Europe and England for centuries, and usually combine viewpoint and reflection in a personal yet universal way. I call mine blank-verse sonnets and try for a simple casual scan that observes yet obscures the form. Inspirations are the American sonnets of e. e. cummings and Edna "Vince" Millay.

What’s a villanelle?

A villanelle is an early French form with 19 lines using only 2 rhymes, traditionally broken into 6 verses. It's kind of obsessive, with lines 1 & 3 repeating alternately, the 4th time as lines 18 & 19. The lines can be any length, but don't seem to vary within a poem, and subjects include love, loss and challenge. Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth Bishop and Sylvia Plath all wrote them, and from the minute I typed villanelle in "Year 2 begins" I was itching to try it out because I've never written one. My first appear in Weeks 53 & 56. I've run some verses together, as many modern writers have done, for continuity and a cleaner line.

What’s a rondeau?

A rondeau is a form of medieval poetry that pre-dates the villanelle and also uses only 2 rhymes. The earliest come from an 8-line song form with 2 lines of music that repeat-- line 1 as 4 & 7, and line 2 as 8, rhyming the rest in a characteristic pattern. The result is a sturdy little poem that makes its point thoughtfully, and less obsessively than the villanelle, perhaps because the generating couplet is unrhymed, and the lines don't need to be the same length, just able to be sung or spoken in the same amount of time. The first ones appear in weeks 55 & 57. Sometimes the poetic form, sans music, is called a triolet.

What’s a decima?

A decima is an early 10-line Spanish poetic form, with a distinct break after the first 4. It uses an 8-syllable line and has an unusual but characteristic rhyme scheme. It's also a 19th-century form of improvised Cuban song so I thought it would work well in this blog format. My first appear in weeks 66 & 69.

What’s a pantoum?

A Malaysian form from the 15th century-- how exotic! It's a series of quatrains, w/ lines 2 & 4 repeating as lines 1 & 3 in the next. The last quatrain also uses lines 1 & 3 from the first quatrain, with the first line ending the poem. So every line is used twice. My first one is week 95.

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Celebrating a Year