A hatchling... [69]

waiting until sunrise, shivering through last winter's twilight, quivering ... speaks

A hatchling...

waiting until sunrise,
shivering
through winter's last twilight,
quivering
as his first word spoken
sets the world on fire, his thoughts that rage
now torching
the bright green hills of home;
then the next word, whispered
soft as glass,
pumps his heart, lifting wings
to sing melodic memories of ancient myths, he —
keens a descant, croons the harmony, warns that this —
this too shall pass; hidden, we must plan
our escape, before his breath turns all to cinders,
steam and ash.

© Copyright 2022 Kåre Enga [179.69] (23.august.2022)

80 words, 16 lines like π 3.141592653589793.
The 3.14159... becomes 6/3/6/3/6/9/3/6/6/3/12/9/12/12/3 to help establish a rhythm.

This is an earlier version showing Pi lines, words and syllables ▶︎

line 1: 3 words waiting until sunrise 6s
line 2: 1 word  quivering 3s
line 3: 4 words through last winter's twilight 6s
line 4: 1 word  shivering 3s
line 5: 5 words when the first word spoken 6s
line 6: 9 words sets the world on fire his thoughts to rage 9s
line 7: 2 words to torch 2s > 3s
line 8: 6 words our bright green hills of home 6s
line 9: 5 words then the next word whispered 6s
line 10: 3 words soft as glass 3s
line 11: 5 words pumps his heart, lifting wings 6s
line 12: 8 words to sing the melodies of ancient myths, he... 11s > 12s
line 13: 9 words keens a descant, croons the harmony, warn that this... 12s
line 14: 7 words this too shall past [sic]; we hide, prepare 8s > 9s
line 15: 9 words our escape before his breath turns all to cinders, 12s
line 16: 3 words steam and ash. 3s
Total 80 words.