This poem was written in response to the latest prompt in the “Critique and Craft” category from the writers’ group, dVerse Poets Pub, and taught me the term, “catalog verse”.
Snow Angels, We Were
lured by the night's lights
"Hey there, Curious!"
(but you paid for the drinks)
fury devil winds
fallen from grace
a decade without you
leafless winter tree
when i’m writing in my night-mind
soon you’ll sleep, still now
gentle things and small moments
[hand in hand in heart]
The Prompt
Laura, the host of the prompt, mused: “when is a poem not a poem?” The prompt itself is an interesting read and includes several intriguing poems that bring together seemingly random ideas to create something with its own unique meaning.
The instructions for writing the poem are:
• write a ‘Found’ poem from your own Jan-November 2023 poems
• write it as an 11 line list/catalog poem
OR
an 11 line verse poem (with or without stanzas)
Poem Structure:
• choose from one poem per month
• select ONLY the first line of the very first verse of your chosen poems
• select your title from the 12th month or any of the previous months’ first lines
• if you’ve posted less than one poem per month for Jan-Nov 2023 then choose a month where there is more than one to make up the 11
“Catalog Verse”: I’m Learning from dVerse
Wow, what a challenge! Crafting a poem from the first lines of 11 unrelated poems is definitely a mind-bender and not a quick exercise. But that’s why I love the dVerse prompts; they make me think and help me grow as a writer and a poet.
One of the poems Laura shared in the prompt was Chad Bennett’s “Tonight”, which she called “essentially a catalog / catalogue verse of eleven incidental happenings subsumed under the title of one night”. OMG, this is another learning from my experiences with dVerse Poets Pub: “catalog verse”. I didn’t know that term, that “catalog verse” was a thing. Now that I know the definition, I realize that I’ve written several, the latest one just this year, and it’s similar to “Tonight”, in a way:
Randomness Transformed
Interestingly, this “catalog verse” poem was the one that gave me the most trouble in writing today’s poem. Its first line was “But you paid for the drinks”. This didn’t flow at all with my other poems from this year, but I played and played and found a way to make it work (in my humble opinion).
The seeming randomness of those 11 first lines evovled into a poem about regrets, loss, grief, forgiveness and finally, hopefulness. I am hopeful you can feel it when you read it.
Links to the 11 Poems
Laura suggested that we include links to our previous poems, so I’ve put them in tables with their first lines, in the same order as the poem.
| lured by the night’s lights | https://glovergardens.com/london-by-night-is-a-wonderful-sight/ |
| “Hey there, Curious!” | https://glovergardens.com/be-who-you-must-be-baby/ |
| (but you paid for the drinks) | https://glovergardens.com/the-little-ones-make-the-most-noise-a-random-poem/ |
| fury devil winds | https://glovergardens.com/poem-devils-winds-laugh-while-we-argue-about-why/ |
| fallen from grace | https://glovergardens.com/she-never-fell-she-only-stumbled-quadrille-poem/ |
| a decade without you | https://glovergardens.com/a-decade-without-you-a-lifetime-to-go-imprinted/ |
| leafless winter tree | https://glovergardens.com/haiku-in-appreciation-of-leafless-trees-in-winter/ |
| when i’m writing in my night-mind | https://glovergardens.com/when-im-writing-in-my-night-mind/ |
| soon you’ll sleep, still now | https://glovergardens.com/autumnal-haibun-flows-like-a-river/ |
| gentle things and small moments | https://glovergardens.com/gentle-things-and-small-moments-a-poem-revisited/ |
| [hand in hand in heart] | https://glovergardens.com/haiku-well-cross-each-bridge-together/ |
The title of the poem could be the first line of a poem from the 12th month, or the first line from any of the other months. I liked this one from December, the last of the four quadrilles. There’s something so fleeting about snow angels that seemed to fit the mood of the poem that emerged.
‘Til Next Time
Thank you for reading.
© 2023, Glover Gardens
Very nice, Kim.
The patchwork poem suits you quite well.
Has a nice flow.
Thank you, Jan! I liked your poem, too, and also like how you’ve dubbed this approach a “patchwork poem”.
This is lovely. I love “a decade without you / leafless winter tree”. The photo is really beautiful too.
Aww, Sherry, I really appreciate that. Those two lines were born to work together, even though they didn’t meet until yesterday.
This worked out so well 🙌
I’m glad you liked it!
A new term to me too but I think you nailed it! I also went back to read the Little Ones Make the Most Noise just to be sure I fully understood what it (the term) meant.
Thank you, Anabel. That comment was the one that inspired me to write that “category verse”. I really wish I knew what they were talking about!
oh your lines melt marvellously into one another, Kim – like snow angels! than you for joining in and a belated welcome to dVerse
fury devil winds
fallen from grace
Those winds have blown my way in the past, not a pleasant memory.
I love how strong and emotional your crafted piece is, lovely poem!
Kim, you weave enchanting tales from disparate verses, capturing the essence of shared moments, gentle emotions, and the nuances of night. This poetic collage beautifully resonates with a sense of nostalgia and connection.
~David
Goodness this is good! The lines meld with one another so seamlessly! ❤️❤️
I love how you have managed to blend the personal with nature imagery to go hand in hand with your emotions.