I woke this morning after a rainy night, with Mt. San Gorgonio peeking through the clouds at its base. I’ve been writing a new poetry form called a sidlak, which is a five-line poem with a color in line 5. Syllable counts in lines 1-4 are 3/5/7/9, and any syllable count you want in line 5. (I wrote more sidlaks last week and shared them here.)
Ode to you,
San Gorgonio,
your snowy peak sings, rises
above and through the clouds this fine day,
white cap of grace.
Here is more about the sidlak poem:
Denise, what a beautiful sight to wake up to. Your poem perfectly paints a picture of the mountain peaks rising above the clouds. This is a poetry form I am not familiar with. I really like it and will file it away for future references. (I am thinking March Challenge.)
Denise, I can’t wait to try this form! Thank you for sharing it. Your photos attest to the wonder and beauty of the words in your poem and capture the feeling in a color word. As a fan of the short forms, I appreciate all the word choices that share the rich imagery.
You are becoming a poetry form guru. I am thinking about the Ron Padgett book, The Teachers and Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms, and how many more there are to discover. The last line, “white cap of grace,” ends the sidlak like a benediction. Beauty.
Oh, I love a new poetry form! Thanks for teaching us about it and sharing your beautiful mountains so well-captured in your poem.
I love especially the last line with its mention of grace.
Hoping to put this new form into practice soon.
Beautiful photos and poem to match. A syllable count helps when working on specific word choice. Like others I love the last line.
Thank you for this new-to-me poetry format and for your incredible images and words that really do paint a magnificent picture of winter’s arrival up in the mountains. Lovely
What a fun form! Your poem – that lovely last line! – makes me both yearn to travel and want to give the form a try. And, ever the sucker for a good link, I wandered through your previous sidlaks and the wallet of poetry prompts and now… well, let’s just say thank you for the inspiration & off I go to try some new ideas!
Thank you for introducing me to a new poetry form. I will definitely try it. What a beautiful view and poem!
Denise,
I’m here for a new poem form. Love it. It’s restrictive yet free. I like the flow, and your poem is a gorgeous mentor for us.
I found the new poetic form to be intriguing. I’m a “syllable counter”–probably a result of my years of teaching primary and clapping out syllables during word studies. As I read your poem here and the ones you linked to, two literary devices stood out: the apostrophe and enjambment … probably because my class is watching for literary devices in their reading. I’m thinking that enjambment makes it easier to follow the syllable rules this poetic form. “Sidlak” was new to me, so of course, I had to chase that rabbit trail. I found out that it is a form from the Philippines and the name is a Cebuano word meaning “shine.” Interesting! Thanks for sharing.