Bryant: Polluted Waters

This poem is a part of the poetic ‘scavenger hunt’ designed by @murisopsis from A Different Perspective. This time the theme is Names, as in poetic forms that feature a name (e.g. one of the prompts is to write a poem in the form of “Amandas Pinch” — a form I’ve personally never heard of before). There are thirteen prompts in total so this is more manageable then a daily commitment challenge. Check out all the prompts and the way it works here and join in if your up for some poetic puzzling. Enjoy!

Prompt 9

Write a poem using the form Bryant or a poem about politics.

A Different Perspective

The Bryant is a poem composed of any number of metered quatrains (lines 1 & 4 trimeter; lines 2 and 3 pentameter) rhymed abab cdcd etc and a pastoral metaphor. Full rules here.

Polluted Waters

Red spreads across the strait
Like blossoming algae in tepid pools
Summoned by polluted thoughts out of date
From the soiled minds of fools

Cool waters are needed
To curb the blooms from continuing spread
Not more dishonest rhetoric seeded
By the Blue, White and Red.

I found this form quite daunting as it includes both structural and contextual constraints (and politics which in particular tends to be pretty depressing) but I gave it a go.

Be well,

Monty

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