WD Poetic Form Challenge: Trenta-Sei Winner
Learn the winner and Top 10 list for the Writer’s Digest Poetic Form Challenge for the trenta-sei.
Here are the results of the Writer's Digest Poetic Form Challenge for the trenta-sei along with a Top 10 list. You can check out all the trenta-sei entries in the comments on this post.
Click here at any time to see what current WD Poetic Form Challenge we're running. Because of the poem-a-day challenges starting up on Monday (3/22) through the end of April, our next WD Poetic Form Challenge will likely launch in May.
Here is the winning trenta-sei:
"Attention," by Jane Shlensky
"Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity." - Simone Weil
I'm easy now to entertain
my isolation rich with light
from brightest dawn to sunset's stain,
each phase of moon and star of night.
Pandemic's hardships set me free
to bask in generosity.
My isolation rich with light
reveals what wants a second thought:
a songbird lifting into flight,
strange lichen that hard rains have brought,
a blossom gold beneath a leaf,
a rose-shot cloud, a sudden grief.
From brightest dawn to sunset's stain,
I am engaged with nature's ways,
her warm regards, her icy rain,
a stretching slant of light that stays.
In every weather, every hour,
she proves her majesty and power.
Each phase of moon and star of night
peeks through my window, lifts my head.
Each night bird winging silent flight,
all things nocturnal from their bed—
raccoon, coyote, possum, owl
inhabit darkness where they prowl.
Pandemic's hardships set me free
to pay attention to song birds,
to learn that generosity
is using time to harvest words
that pay attention to what's real
and shape it to match what I feel.
To bask in generosity,
each sprouting solace on my way,
brings joy mixed with humility
as I welcome another day—
each blessing small as breath to see,
each seed vast as the world to be.
*****
Play with poetic forms!
Poetic forms are fun poetic games, and this digital guide collects more than 100 poetic forms, including more established poetic forms (like sestinas and sonnets) and newer invented forms (like golden shovels and fibs).
*****
Congratulations, Jane! "Attention" is a sort of meditation that captures the introspection, I believe, many people have had to deal with over the past year.
Here’s my Top 10 list:
- Attention, by Jane Shlensky
- Trenta-sei for Rapunzel, The Witch's Tale, by Pamela J. Jessen
- Sundressed Soldier, by Sorcha Sills
- The Joy of Paying Attention, by Kathleen Wheeler
- Remembering Billy V., by Taylor Graham
- The Golden Window, by Lelawattee Mano-Rahming
- Moonlit Poem, by Connie L Peters
- Trenta-sei: The final breath, by Clare Revell
- To My Sisters: Photographed at the Wedding Rehearsal, by Rebekah Holley
- The Writing Life, by Carla Mann
Congratulations to everyone in the Top 10! And to everyone who wrote a trenta-sei!
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
