I usually write free verse, but during this tumultuous period of Covid19 and politics and strangeness, I am taking comfort from traditional forms of poetry. When stressed, I turn to iambic pentameter, I guess.
I am intrigued by the complexity and simplicity of the villanelle form. Famous ones include Roethke’s “Waking” and Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” Repeated lines, repeated rhymes….it’s a kind of haunting form. Tercets and a quatrain and all that good stuff.
The new publication GRAND LITTLE THINGS just published my latest villanelle. Many thanks to Patrick Fey, the editor.
You can read it using the link or below.
https://grand-little-things.com/2020/10/04/villanelle-2020-by-gabriella-brand/
Villanelle 2020 Each day, these days, I make the time for grief It's not just sadness, but a form of prayer: I watch the world unfolding, turn its leaf. A plague marauding, silent like a thief, The cities stilled, a waiting in the air Each day, these days, I make the time for grief Autumn comes,the grain encased in sheaf I don't remember harvest quite so rare I watch the world unfolding, turn its leaf. Things falls apart, renew,and test belief I search for hope, and dance against despair Each day, these days, I make the time for grief Because I know that permanence is brief And filaments are fragile, prone to wear I watch the world unfolding, turn its leaf I ride the breeze, the stars, to find relief Acknowledge kindness when I see it there Each day, these days, I make the time for grief I watch the world unfolding, turn its leaf.
Gabriella Brand 
*Beautiful*, Gabriella, thank you. I’m so glad to be on your list. Hope you are well, and hope to hear you on next Sisters call. love, Debbie
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Gabriella,
Thank you for this gorgeous poem. Not only its beauty, but your wisdom in saying out loud what we are not addressing collectively: the grief of these days. Ah, women with wisdom and brave words!
This above reply may strike you as odd (especially the brave part), but in our country where we have magical thinking that death of anything is optional, it needs to be proclaimed…and how poetically you do that!!!
Bisous, Beth
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I don`t remember much of what I learned about poetry in school, but the phrase which has always stuck in my head is because of the sound – iambic pentameter.I like this poem.Thanks for letting me see your work, I appreciate it.Judy
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The rhythm and the repetition, as well as the thoughtful lines–reassuring. Thank you!
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Gabriella, I liked the rhythm of this poem and the theme – celebration of grief in a very soothing style.
Croney
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This piece of work is just wonderful. It really hits home as one would say…thank you for the work.
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It’s beautifully written, Gabriella, but ever so sad. I’ve waited to respond, so I could think about what to say. Fall can be a melancholy time even without so much around us to warrant grief, but I have to choose not to make it part of my life on a daily basis. Small things that bring happiness….the kids in the neighborhood on their bikes, or who stop to chat as Carole and I walk, my daughter-in law who drove up from Larchmont to deliver the Corgi granddog for a few days, so we could have something lovable to snuggle, my granddaughter who writes for the newspaper at the U of Michigan, and sent us something she just had published, this beautiful cool weather…….. I hang on tightly each day to something positive, lovely, funny, whatever…. That’s the only way I can cope.
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Magnifique poeme qui rejoint nos etats d’ame …on essaie de trouver un peu de lumiere dans chaque moments heureux
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