The Poetry Princess Project — FEBRUARY

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So, my pals and I started a year-long poetry project last month.
We kicked the whole thing off with triolets. They were hard.
And this month we said, "Villanelles!"

Here's what They Might Be Giants has to say about villanelles.
(To paraphrase, don't hate the villian, hate the villanelle.)

But really, they're not that bad.
They're actually kind of fun little puzzles.

Mine was inspired by this crazy story I read about King Tut's burial mask.
(To paraphrase, his beard broke off and they glued it back on with this really cheesy looking epoxy!)
But it also ended up being about the darkness — or at least surprises — hidden underneath some people's facades.

So, here goes….

The Boy King’s Beard

Upon a man, what’s regal as a beard?
Propriety and promise all in one.
We trust that things are just as they appear.

But what is underneath? It’s what we’ve feared –
the yellowed sheen of stories badly spun.
Upon a man, what’s regal as a beard?

Not much, until that gilded cloak’s been sheared
and now we’re left with everything he’s done.
We trusted things were as they’d once appeared.

And not just trusted – honored and revered.
The gold of all has chipped away to none.
Upon a man, what’s regal as a beard?

The truth unmasked, the cover disappeared!
No pharaoh here, a simple mother’s son.
We trusted things to be as they appeared —

a boy, a beard, these ancient myths we’ve reared,
from storied tombs that lie to everyone.
Upon a man, what’s regal as a beard?
The trust that what is true will reappear.

You like villanelles? Here are the amazing poems my poetry sisters crafted:

Sara
Tanita
Andi
Tricia
Kelly
Laura

And Poetry Friday today is at Elizabeth Steinglass' Blog.
Happy day, everyone…..

The Poetry Princess Project

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This poor little neglected blog.
It's just been sitting here with its jacket on and its shoes laced up even though I've given it not a thing to do for ever so long.
Until now.

I am delighted to say that I — along with my pals The Poetry Princesses (Sara Holmes, Tanita Davis, Andromeda Jazmon, Laura Purdie Salas, Tricia Stohr-Hunt and Kelly Fineman) — have committed to 12 months of poetry challenges starting right this very minute.

Each month we'll take on a different form or theme and then we'll share our efforts on the first Friday of the month.
Usually.
At least that's the plan.

So. We started with triolets.
Eight lines. A very simple rhyme scheme.
No problem, right?

EXCEPT….
Iambic Tetrameter.
As my kids would say, "Awkward."

But because we seven are not just princesses but also brave warriors, we forged ahead.
And many tries later, here's mine.
(It was inspired by this story, which is awesome because it's about things like the dawn of creativity. Zoinks.)

Ancient Hands

A handprint on a sandy wall                                  
The DNA of everyone                                            
As old as God, as large, as small                                 
A handprint on a sandy wall                                 
The head ingenius, heart enthralled                                
Started then what’s still not done                                
A handprint on a sandy wall –                                   
The DNA of everyone

Tricia is hosting Poetry Friday today, where you can find all of our triolets but also lots of poetic contributions by others.

And here are the rest of the triolets!

Laura's Rowing to the Future
Andromeda's Joe's Fire
Kelly's A Triolet
Sara's Antidote
Tanita's Perfected
Tricia's Letting Go

Now we're moving on to villanelles, which we'll share on February 6th.
Try one with us if you'd like!