Ice-Breakers on the Frozen Neva in St. Petersburg – Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovsky – 1877 (Wikipedia)
Ah – un brivido e un po’ di drama
Suo tocco gelido alla tramontana!
(Very loose translation … Ah – a shiver and a bit of drama – his frozen touch alla winter wind.)
The long face of winter looms before my eyes
Like that lover whom I’d hoped had gone away at last.
© G.s.k. ‘15
shadorma (a non-rhyming six-line poem in 3/5/3/3/7/5)
summer morn
yet I feel the cold
of winter
in my heart –
chilling the blood in my veins
just looking at you
© G.s.k. ‘15
Today at B&P’s Shadorma & Beyond, Paloma has directed us to write a Landay:
The landay originated in Afghanistan. It is a folk couplet that is oral in nature:
1. Twenty two syllables broken into two couplets
…(nine in the first, thirteen in the second);
2. Ends with a “ma” or “na” sound.
…This cannot be replicated in English;
3. May contain end rhyme;
4. Characterized by bawdiness, wit, and piercing truths
…despite the beauty of the language.
I wrote two landay … one in Italian because in that language it’s not impossible to use the “ma” and “na” endings … and in English because that’s my writing language and it’s a whole lot easier 🙂 .
Ooof …. ! I feel the chill … a strong chill indeed. You wield the landay as a weapon … which it often was. Very well done … and with one of my favorite artists. 🙂
Hoping for a burst of summer to break through that ice.
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The landay is very satisfactory for the “hard cut” as we’d call them in Italian … glad you enjoyed the post.
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Very much 🙂
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Very strong piece. Nice.
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You definitely wielded the weapons wisely and beautifully here. Very evocative and strong – and generally – I love the introduction and the image. Simply stunning. Great job 😀
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Thanks MJ for the glowing comment … this particular form is very powerful. 🙂
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Indeed – it is a very effective and powerful form – I’m glad I learned about it 😀
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