Internal Wanderlust (Quatern)

by Hannah Lizette   Aug 3, 2014


No one envisions the beauty
traveling holds until the sun
roams across dew scented meadows
and quietly whispers hello.

Two seas wave at the border yet
no one envisions the beauty
until the boat crosses the line
and points out their diversity.

Iron shoes tip-toe on banks of
remembrance as I softly wept.
No one realizes the beauty
till treading into history.

At last, my old Kentucky home;
the moon bats her eyes as I rest
my head on nostologic linens -
no one envisions the beauty.

-----

Larry's Form Contest entry - Round 2 (Edited)

Copyright 2014: Hannah K.

Author's Notes:

Stanza Two: The Baltic Sea and the North Sea meet at a certain point but never merge due to their different densities.

Stanza Three: During World War II, Jews were brought to the edge of the Danube, ordered to remove their shoes and then were shot, falling into the water below. Sixty pairs of iron shoes now line the river's bank, a ghostly reminder to the victims.

Form: A Quatern is a sixteen line French form composed of four quatrains. It has a refrain that is in a different place in each quatrain. The first line of stanza one is the second line of stanza two, third line of stanza three and fourth line of stanza four. A Quatern has eight syllables per line. It does not have to be iambic or follow a set rhyme scheme.

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Latest Comments

  • 10 years ago

    by Baby Rainbow

    Wow, I didn't realise how much of your work I had missed. Sorry about that!

    Firstly, congratulations for mastering this form, very difficult to do and I can imagine it would take a lot of playing around with in order to perfect it.

    I am amazed at how smoothly it flows, I really struggle to judge or comment on formed pieces, because I find it hard to understand the rules, and know if it has been done right. Especially when I have not attempted the form myself. But what I always do, is read the poem without it being a form, and if it feels flawless, then I think it has been a great poem because formed pieces can be so forced or begin to lose their sense.

    I really liked your poem, and as always, the descriptions were so vivid, I could really see the scenes you painted with metaphors and great wording.

    The tone of the poem is quite sad, in the way that beauty is often missed, or not appreciated.

    Nice job

  • 10 years ago

    by Beautiful Soul

    Speechless. Even I don't really know how to comment this! And as Andrea said it is breathtaking. I think this is one of these poems where no words need to be said because you wrote it so well. Beautiful work Hannah. Very impressed.

  • 10 years ago

    by Maple Tree

    Oh Hannah, I really enjoyed this Quatern!

    The message breaks my heart and you took a haunting, historical tragedy and made it into an elegant dedication... breathtaking!

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