Building Joy in the World
If I forgo mere toil and strife
for a more playful sort of life,
and live this playful sort of life
to the accompaniment of fife,
of fife and whistle, flute and drum,
my narrow life might expand some.
Expand from shard to full-blown bowl,
filled to its edges with more soul
’til edges of my soul have filled
the bowl from which it now has spilled.
Spilled out to change the world it touches,
wrested from my lonely clutches.
Freed from their clutch, to build a life
that has transcended mere toil and strife
Prompt words today are narrow, forgo, playful, shard and touch. This poem is also written to fulfill the NaPoWriMo2022 day 27 prompt to write a “Duplex”—a 14 line poem of seven two-line stanzas where the second line of the first stanza is echoed by (but not identical to) the first line of the second stanza, the second line of the second stanza is echoed by (but not identical to) the first line of the third stanza, and so on. Then the last line should be the same as the first line of the poem. Image by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
Very clever flow of verse!
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I just couldn’t call a poem without rhyme a sonnet.
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I’ve never understood this thing for calling unrhymed, unmetred poems by classical names either. Just because it has 14 lines doesn’t mean it’s a sonnet, but then so much has become ‘what I say it is’.
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Amen. As a “reformed” English teacher I still want the classical forms to remain unchanged. If you want to change it, call it by another name. “Me and her are going to the store,” also grates.
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So many things set my teeth on edge when written by people who purport to be poets or writers. If you can’t conjugate the verb to lie, I think you should use a different verb, for example.
Yesterday on the radio I heard an American diplomat talking about the new front opening in Transnistria, and using the bizarre word, ‘rattle-sabres’. I assume he was talking about sabre-rattling. I wonder what he thinks a rattle-sabre looks like?
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Couldn’t we have a fun gripe session over a margarita????
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Ha ha! Except I’d opt out of the margarita if that’s all right by you. Hate the stuff. Can I have a glass of wine instead, please?
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If I can have a gin and tonic instead….
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Certainly. I’m not the alcohol police 🙂
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I think your duplex turned out admirably, Judy. I know I need more play in my life (besides writing playful poems!). I’m reminded of this quote: “The opposite of play is not work. It’s depression.” (Brian Sutton-Smith) Take care, Stephanie
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My writing and art is my play… oh, and my dogs and hammock!
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Bravo for taking the duplex a step further with the rhyme and the meter. Well done!
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Beautiful verse…
“Expand from shard to full-blown bowl,
filled to its edges with more soul”
Well penned!
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Thanks, Suzette. You always choose the line I’ve questioned as your favorite…and it’s a boost.
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Fascinating…I guess that’s the beauty of poetry…the reader brings herself to each line.😊
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And sometimes the ones you take the biggest risk on turn out to be “someone’s” favorites!!
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Yes! Exactly.
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I enjoyed this journey of transcendence: like trickles of water flowing into a river headed for the ocean.
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Thanks, Maria, for writing a poem to comment on one!
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Well done. I especially like,
Expand from shard to full-blown bowl,
filled to its edges with more soul
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That’s what is fun about the prompts, Ali. “Shard” was a prompt and having to work it into the poem created that metaphor. I love the triggers….
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