Brian Strand, UK

 

 

Poetry Re-Formed   Crystalline Sequence   Pain Barriers   Beads of sweat drip onto eyebrows, tears of relief greet the baby's cry Beads of sweat drip onto eyebrows, tears of joy polish the medal gold Beads of sweat drip onto eyebrows, tears of pain filling His stripes again     Englyn*   Half-Hearted   Her love was like a rose, with no perfume. Dressed in very fine clothes passion she could not propose, brought the romance to a close.     *Englyn—a quatrain from Welsh poetry of 30 syllables in four lines 10, 6, 7, 7. The sixth syllable of line one announces the rhyme, the last syllable of the succeeding three lines rhyme with it. (The final syllable of line one is without rhyme). The content has an enigmatic quality.     A Duet of Nagauta* (lyric form)   Erstwhile   Sitting here, I dream Those Summer days of my youth, Life was slower then— Holidays, so full of sun Time, just drifted by, Daylight lasting, oh so long— Days stretched into weeks Carefree as we ventured forth Growing up, was simpler then.       Lost in Wonder   Desolate, once more Thinking of what could have been; Where did I go wrong? Was there more I should have done; Three words left unsaid— The arrogance of male pride, Shackled emotions, inside.     *"Nagauta", literally, "long song", is a kind of traditional Japanese music which accompanies the kabuki theater. The form appeared around 1740. Because it developed the most within the Kabuki theater in Edo, it is often called "Edo Nagauta." In its purest form, Nagauta is a lyrical form with texts that are poetic and allusive. Nagauta describe a character's feelings indirectly, through poetic images and mood. Melody and rhythm are also very important. http://jtrad.columbia.jp/eng/u_nagauta.html