Monday, March 15, 2010

Psalm of Peace-Cascade Poetry

Another experiment with poetry and this time it is Cascade poetry, a form created by Udit Bhatia, which is all about receptiveness, but in a smooth cascading way like a waterfall. The poem does not have any rhyme scheme; therefore, the layout is simple.
Say the first verse has three lines. Line one of verse one becomes the last line of verse two. To follow in suit, the second line of verse one becomes the last line of verse three. The third line of verse one now becomes the last line of verse four, the last stanza of the poem. See the structure example below:

a/b/c, d/e/A, f/g/B, h/i/C

To make the Cascade an even longer poem, use more lines in verse one. For example, if verse one has 6 lines, the poem must have seven stanzas so that each line of verse one is reused as a refrain in each following stanza (a cascading effect).




Ruthless mayhem if cast away,
Swords and guns; inhumed in lost graves,
Hands binding; sing the psalm of peace,
‘Shalom’ – greet each other with ease.

Children playful in unity,
Saplings nourished in fruitful harmony,
Zion heavenly; planet Earth shall be,
Ruthless mayhem if cast away.

Nations ushered; beneath one banner,
Tongues and races dissolved with peace,
Prosperity reigning then naturally,
Swords and guns; inhumed in lost graves.

Religions dwelling in mutual bliss,
Respecting each other and God faithfully,
‘Praises Adonai’, rising in one voice,
Hands binding; sing the psalm of peace.

Greed and hateful spite redeemed,
Tolerant humans, cleansed by torrent rain,
Anew, hopeful tranquil life in peace,
‘Shalom’- greet each other with ease.


P.S.: I've used two jewish words in this poem; the meanings of which are mentioned below:

Shalom: Peace
Adonai: God

5 comments:

Rinzu said...

this post was wonderful...adhering to the rules of the form...thanks for this form...will try this one soon...

:-)

Unknown said...

Lovely write as always buddy, its a pleasure reading you.

'Nations ushered; beneath one banner,
Tongues and races dissolved with peace,
Prosperity reigning then naturally,
Swords and guns; inhumed in lost graves'.

I especially loved the usage of those lovely hebrew words :)

Dolly said...

Good write.Good Pattern.Good message!!
Everything about this poem is good, Wandering Gypsy....
another jewel from you,brilliant n sparkling!!
Keep them coming

Unknown said...

Seems like all the poets are awake at this time of the night. :D

As always, Wandering Gypsy, a treat... for the heart and the eyes..!
a wonderful poem...and of course the Cascade structuring was perfect in the composition...
lovely, just lovely!

Usha said...

'Religions dwelling in mutual bliss,
Respecting each other and God faithfully'



This is indeed "Paradise Lost", my dear friend!

Lovely, thoughtful, write

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Poetry by Wandering Gypsy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.