The following poem by Pat Laster won first place in the POETS’ CHOICE category of Missouri State Poetry Society’s Winter contest. The poem is written in cinquain (sin-kane) sequence.
Cinquain is a syllabic poetry form of 5 lines. The syllable count is 2-4-6-8-2. Some cinquains use iambic pentameter.
A sight
for sleepy eyes:
a pair of cardinals
fly to the birdbath. While she bathes,
he whets
his beak
on a nearby
limb of beautyberry.
When she’s finished, she flies away.
His turn.
Facing
toward me (behind
the window), he
dips and flutters, spreading
his tail feathers in a fan, stands,
surveys
the scene.
I don’t count
the repetitions, but
soon enough, a speckle-breasted
thrasher
flies up
wanting a dip.
“Red” moves to the near branch
where the wind ruffles and dries his
feathers.
Cleaning
his bill once more,
he flies home, while the long,
brown bird follows the same bathing
routine.
On this
Martin Luther
King Monday, what a treat
for one who’d just arisen from
a dream.
by Pat Laster
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| Me, Pat Laster, Dorothy Johnson Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow, Oct ’12 Wine-Thirty |
