I’ve been struggling to write for the past few weeks. I didn’t participate in the weekly Tuesday SOL for most of April, and my poetry writing has been erratic. My morning writing pages haven’t been accumulating either. Outside, there’s lots going on and I’ve enjoyed time down by the river, and walking, taking pictures, gardening, etc., but I’m not feeling a writing tug. I just haven’t wanted to write about anything in particular. I’ve started and stopped a couple of pieces, unable to find any sort of rhythm. Could it be the weather?
Thank goodness for my on-line writing communities–Poetry Friday to the rescue! Intrigued by the dizains on show in several posts last week, I decided to attempt one. The basic rules to a dizain are 10 lines with 10 syllables each and a rhyme scheme of ababbccdcd. Our depressingly rainy spring seemed to be the perfect topic.
Rainy Spring Lament
These ceaseless days of drizzle drag me down
fair sun retreats, unfelt and rarely spied
sky clings to clouds as to a favorite gown
debuting springtime blossoms peek then hide,
droop ever downward, fully mist-ified
The forecast looms with unrelenting grey
belies the merry, merry month of May
when typically the whole world comes alive
instead our spirits sag and tempers fray
Oh, when will springtime finally arrive?
©Molly Hogan, 2019
This week’s Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Elizabeth Steinglass at her blog, Elizabeth Steinglass: Poetry for Children and Their Grownups. She’s celebrating all sorts of milestones this spring, including the imminent release of her first book: “Soccerverse: Poems About Soccer.” Congratulations, Elizabeth!! Today she’s sharing a first draft of a poem that’s included in that book, and a poem that was cut.
Nix the comfort zone 
At first I thought, oh, yeah. That’s me, not writing this month. But then you slammed me with this amazing dizain which I can’t even spell, much less write. Your invention of mist-ified, inspired, and the lament is just what I need on this rainy Friday-eve. Was this as hard as it seems? I’d love to hear more about your process.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Margaret, you made me laugh! I definitely played around with this awhile. My first incarnation seemed to take on a different tone mid-way through, so I had to totally rework that which involved changing the rhyme. I don’t know if it was hard, but it did take some fun fiddling.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely, Molly. We’ve had lots of rain, too. May we both be writing about warmth and sunshine soon!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Today was stunning and I thoroughly enjoyed the sun. It looks like we may be back to grey and drizzly again soon though. Sigh.
LikeLike
I really like the verbs you used; the rhythm and rhyme is spot-on; and, of course, “mist-ified” is 😘. Glad you found the inspiration!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the feedback, Tabatha.
LikeLike
We just had 3 days of the rain, even some snow yesterday &, so different, I loved it because we need it very much. Different parts of our US makes such different scenes and feelings. Your dizain is perfect, Molly, though feeling low, you wrote it well! Love “The forecast looms with unrelenting grey/belies the merry, merry month of May.” Wishing the sun for you this Mother’s Day!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Needing rain and not getting it is very stressful, so I’m glad the rain came through for you. We had sunshine today! Yay! I believe tomorrow is back to unrelenting grey though. Ah, well.
LikeLike
I’ve never tried a dizain, but now I’m inspired to give one a try. We’ve had a lot of rain here too, and more on its way today. I can relate to your beautiful poem, especially “debuting springtime blossoms peek then hide,/droop ever downward, fully mist-ified.” I love what you did with mist-ified! Brilliant! Happy Mother’s Day!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Linda. I will probably try another dizain soon. Sometimes the structure of a specific form really sparks creativity. Happy Mother’s Day to you as well.
LikeLike
Wow, this is gorgeous, Molly! It flows beautifully—not forced at all. Hope spring and new writing inspiration arrives for you soon. You’ve got another challenge waiting for you at TLD. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Michelle. I love the TLD challenge for this month but still haven’t quite figured it out. It’s definitely on my mind though.
LikeLike
Oh, you stinker (she types with a wink) you nailed it! Love the word play with mist-ified. Sky clinging to clouds like a gown. This is luscious and makes rainy days seem like good fodder for writing. Well done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, the upside of many rainy days is time to write, right? lol
LikeLike
Very nice, Molly – I felt like you were here looking out the window with me! I’ve never heard of this poetic form, so I’ll need to keep it in the back of my mind now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There were some beautiful dizains shared last week on PF–that’s what inspired me.
LikeLike
I can relate to the rain, rain and rain this spring. At least your dizain spreads some sunshine. I am impressed you emerged from a writing haitus (hopefully brief) to create this. I was just intimidated when I read them last week!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The ones shared last week were pretty wonderful!
LikeLike
Wow! I guess your brain needed a bit of a break because this poem is brilliant! I love this line here:
debuting springtime blossoms peek then hide
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! I’m hoping that my brain is done taking its break now. Fingers crossed!
LikeLike
I think your poem captures the feeling brilliantly! There’s so much in it I admire–the first line, the sky clinging to clouds like a gown, mist-ified, and your plaintive last line. I hope you get sun soon!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sun–here today, gone tomorrow! Thanks again for hosting, Liz!
LikeLike
Molly, for a lack of poetic energy this month, you surely let the images in the sky lead you to a wonderful poem. I looked up the form before reading yours and realized voila-you made it sound easy to write. What a great image here:
sky clings to clouds as to a favorite gown
debuting springtime blossoms peek then hide,
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Carol. I was really impressed by the dizains shared last week. The form was new to me as well, but it was a fun challenge.
LikeLike
Oh, well done, Molly. I missed that challenge, and will have to revisit — methinks after school gets out. This weather really has been tedious, hasn’t it? No signs of stopping at the moment.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tedious is right! Yesterday was glorious though, so I’m trying to hold on to that. I hope you saw some sunshine as well.
LikeLike
I love hearing that your process included a lot of “fun fiddling.” I think that’s what I’ll rename revision in writing workshop!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Most of it was fun! lol I love the idea of you renaming revision in your classroom.
LikeLike
Bravo, Molly! Yes the weather has been terrible, but your poem brought a smile to my face in spite of the clouds. Love “mist-ified!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Catherine. There were rumors of snow for today!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your poem be-cries our weather perfectly, just add in some cold temps and voila you have Chicago’s curmudgeonish spring. Lovely bleak dizain poem, I’m looking forward to trying this one out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m sorry to hear that Chicago spring adds cold to the mix. Yuck! It hasn’t been very warm here, either, but we’re trending in the right direction. I hope you have fun trying out a dizain!
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] The crummy weather gives me something to write about. It inspired my first dizain last week (Rainy Spring Lament) and today I’m lodging another poetic […]
LikeLike
All the “D” sounds in your poem mimic the drumming rain. It’s a wonderful poem!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Laura. I’m still wishing that I had a bit less inspiration for rain-themed poetry.
LikeLike