Poetry Friday- Triversen Poems

The 'Triversen' is a poetic form developed by William Carlos Williams. It presents as a flexible poetry form where the sentence plays a key role in forming each of the six three line stanzas.

A Triversen poem has the following characteristics:

Each stanza equals one sentence.
Each sentence/stanza breaks into 3 lines (each line is a separate phrase in the sentence).
There is a variable foot of 2-4 beats per line.
The poem as a whole should add up to 18 lines (or 6 stanzas).

Here's my attempt at a Triversen poem. It sets a tone of sadness, but in this case that was my brief as a poet.

Earl's Funeral

when they buried old Earl

a murder of crows

sat in a nearby tree

the shadow of a cloud

passed over the mourners

who shuddered in the cold air

Earl was buried in an old suit

his favourite battered hat

and a photo of his dog.

can't remember

the last time I saw Earl

but we shared a few words

A life gets recounted

packed up

and then put away

the crows held the tree captive

then shook their sooty feathers

and flew towards the sun.

Alan j Wright

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