Jeanne: The Water's Fall

A Huitain for Poetry Week at The Writer's Cramp. Thoughts of 2023 - for my mother.

Her hands lift - then, like water, fall
translucent, beautiful...so cold.
My mother's dying down the hall.
Her tiny body I enfold;
with eyes of seafoam green and gold.
They've carried weights in waves of years;
behind her gaze, oceans untold...
time bends away as heaven nears.


note ▶︎

From

BOOK

Poetry Forms  (13+) Poetry Forms Easily Explained - a work of Bianca with additions by kansaspoet #945530 by Bianca

:

The Huitain is a French form. The Italian Octave developed by Aristote and Torquato Tasso, stood model for the Huitain.

In the 14th century the huitains were actually written as a verse of a primitive ballade. The first known author of the Huitain is Guillaume de Machaut. The early huitain had two rhymes in its rhyme scheme (ABABBAAB)

One century later, the definitive form of the huitain was formed. The huitain contains eight lines, with eight syllables per line.(ABABBCBC)

An example of this form:

The sun shines, but the wind is cold
On this beautiful April day
Minds processing secrets unfold
Even I don’t know what to say
A warning for the game you play
Before someone starts to throw dirt
Feelings – pain – it turns my day grey
I hate being used, being hurt.