A while ago, I put out a post about Sidlak Poetry. I learned of it from a blog I read and was incredibly excited to give it a try. In usual form, I didn’t follow the rules, or understand them. So, this is my second attempt at Sidlak Poetry. Hopefully, I have a better grasp this time!
Sidlak poetry (sid/lak) is a structured poetry consisting of 5 lines with 3-5-7-9syllables AND A COLOR. The last line must be a COLOR that describes the whole poem or the feelings of the writer.
This is my Sidlak tribute to Spring:
A held breath
Cloistered in silence
Returns in heavy rainfall
Saturating twisted bones of earth
The landscape erupts in red blossoms
You can read my first (the rules according to Susan) Sidlak poem here, but at the time of that post there were three beautiful poems left in the comments section that I want to share now.
From Damn Girl:
Is it done
That song that we sing
When our time is slipping by
Into the yellow sunrise of day
From Mandi:
Where am I?
Forgot my compass
Maybe that’s the exit door?
Fucking blue, how typical is that
From Kim:
I sat down
Tell a story true
How angry you get, I’m sick
Your eyes turn black, I run for the door
If you are inspired, as I was, to explore this new form, please give it a go and share it in the comments section. I will feature the poems in another post later in the month. Even if you don’t want to share, give it a try. It is a beautiful exercise.
Poetry Month is alive and singing!!!!!!
April 6, 2018 at 3:59 pm
Nice! Great post, Susan. I so enjoy reading your work and the others posted! ~k.
April 6, 2018 at 4:03 pm
Ummm… you are giving me credit for someone else’s work, think you may have the wrong Kim? It is a great Sidlak piece, however.
April 6, 2018 at 4:06 pm
Ummm… OK! That is my piece! I totally forgot I wrote that! wow. You had me try that a long time ago! Sneaky! You Rock Susan!
April 6, 2018 at 4:51 pm
I had forgotten about it too, but was thrilled to find it again today!!!! You are a poet, you gorgeous fierce amazing lady!!!!!!!! You are always up for a challenge and I love that! And, you see what happens? Magic happens!
April 6, 2018 at 5:15 pm
Stunned. 😳💜💜💜
April 6, 2018 at 5:22 pm
Don’t be shy to try another Sidlak Kim – and now I have hopefully explained it correctly. But, I gotta say, the poems that strayed from the rules were pretty amazing! Rules and I have always had a bit of a problem……
April 6, 2018 at 6:45 pm
You don’t say! I thought you to be a princess in the tower but fuck no! You had that key the whole damn time. HAhahaha! You are never dull! Rules -Meh-whatever…
April 6, 2018 at 6:54 pm
If I had remembered earlier, we could have avoided all the I am not a poet nonsense……I adore the hell out of you Kim, truly!!!!!!!
April 6, 2018 at 7:04 pm
To be truthful, I have written a few lil poems here and there under the name k.lynel. You can google me if you want… But I have never been trained in the etiquette of poem writing and I suck at spelling AND after a head injury and many (7) surgeries I had to re-learn sentence structure! So, I am a bit shy… and terrified…that my writing sucks! Need to get over myself a bit and I have been jumping into the fire… or pushed into the fire! HAHA. No, seriously, thank you. This has been a joy to write again! Yay!
April 6, 2018 at 7:33 pm
I am here to tell you that your writing does not suck; far far from it. It has been a joy to read Kim!!!!! And thank you for sharing you secret – I am totally googling you!!!! As far as trained in the etiquette of poem writing…I certainly wasn’t and I am not even sure I know what that means. You are my hero!!!!!!
April 6, 2018 at 7:44 pm
I got a girl crush! You are so supportive of me. I am so honored! Thank you for such belief and encouragement. You are amazing. I am glad my writing doesn’t suck, at least you didn’t have to tell me that! It took a very long time to re-learn how to write. That was a battle in itself. So, writing a blog, publishing a book, and getting back into poetry has all been a healing process! Then I meet cool poetry peeps like you! I feel very lucky. Thank you.
April 6, 2018 at 7:48 pm
❤️❤️❤️
April 6, 2018 at 7:55 pm
Kim, your poetry. Oh my god. I am moved to tears. Thank you so much for sharing this with me. Amazing!
April 6, 2018 at 7:56 pm
you found it?
April 6, 2018 at 7:57 pm
It’s incredible❤️
April 6, 2018 at 7:56 pm
I would love to include more in the Visual Verse feature. Let me know what you think. Now, time for sleep.
April 6, 2018 at 7:57 pm
I trust you know what you are doing. You have my permission. Now go to sleep!
April 6, 2018 at 7:58 pm
Yay! Thank you!
April 6, 2018 at 7:59 pm
sleep well, my friend.
April 7, 2018 at 5:30 am
When your Visual Verse poem is posted, I will write my post!!!!
April 6, 2018 at 4:50 pm
I agree……to the woman who said she doesn’t do poetry.
April 6, 2018 at 5:14 pm
😏
April 6, 2018 at 5:21 pm
Hmmmm… I may have to give it a try sometime. You did well! ☺💜
April 6, 2018 at 5:24 pm
Yes Walt!!!!!! Please please give it a try. I would love to read what it brings up for you.
April 6, 2018 at 6:07 pm
I’ll work on it ☺
April 6, 2018 at 8:18 pm
Very interesting and thought provoking. You are certainly a glutton for punishment taking on this challenge
April 7, 2018 at 5:29 am
Are you thinking of participating, Steve? True, I may have bitten off more than I can chew, but I am taking advantage of feeling energized by Poetry Month!!!!!
April 7, 2018 at 5:55 am
I’m not sure
April 6, 2018 at 9:17 pm
Lovely! And what an interesting form! I may have to give it a whirl.
April 7, 2018 at 5:31 am
Angela, I really hope you do. I posted a poem today, but I will be posting yours tomorrow.
April 7, 2018 at 8:16 pm
I will! Thank you, again. I’m so grateful and honored. 💜
April 7, 2018 at 5:06 am
Oh this is lovely. I had heard of this before, but was not familiar with the structure..
April 7, 2018 at 5:36 am
I am so excited to read what you come up with Wulf….you see that, me making the assumption that you are going to write one…..you are our resident poet after all!!!!!!!!xoxoxo
April 7, 2018 at 5:41 am
I did see that…and I think you wear the honor of resident poet a lot better than I. But your praise is never unwelcome.
April 7, 2018 at 5:47 am
How about we just say that we are a beautifully diverse Poetry Collective. Everything you are writing right now is so exciting. It’s weird, I am so excited about celebrating poetry this month, but I am not really writing much of it. I did just finish something that was incredibly emotionally challenging for me, so perhaps I am allowing myself a break to just enjoy the work of other poets. Thank you for adding so spectacularly to that, my friend!
April 7, 2018 at 5:53 am
I think we can agree on the diverse Collective. It is odd for me as well. I have not been writing a lot this month myself. There are more floral inspirations that I haven’t written, but other than that…maybe it’s just the real world distractions that have me pulled too far outside.
April 14, 2018 at 7:55 am
I’ve always been fascinated by poetry and especially those who can produce it. There is something about the essence of it I don’t feel that I understand. I want to understand the game of Hockey. I know that I would enjoy the game, but no matter what I do I just can’t get the hang of it. That’s how I feel about poetry. I’m sure it is more likely that I’m getting in my own way, as I do in many aspects of life.
I like structure and rules. I’ve always like haiku poems because there is a formula to follow. There are rules. If nothing else, I can get credit for following the rules. So when I read this post I got excited. I could play along and if nothing else, get base points for checking off all the requirements.
Bombs rain down
Lives are turned to shit
Punish the wicked we must
Righteously indignant we stand firm
An ironic stew of red, white, blue.
April 14, 2018 at 8:04 am
Dylan, you have made my day!!!! This is a perfect Sidlak poem and I am thrilled that you chose to give it a shot. The last line ties the whole thing together so beautifully. Your words hold such impact, today and in this time and climate. You are a deep thinking and feeling man and I have such huge admiration for your gifts. I have the opposite response to rules; I have a hard time adhering to them, and that can make poetry a challenge, but I think the beauty of it, is that it can be anything. I am so happy you wrote this and I hope you will keep writing poetry!
April 18, 2018 at 6:35 am
Great job! Seems easy, but probably hard like Soduku for me.
April 18, 2018 at 7:44 am
You should totally give it a shot!
April 24, 2018 at 11:55 am
Oh, I loved this. I’m not familiar with this kind of poetry. Very intriguing.
April 24, 2018 at 1:06 pm
It is new for me too; I learned of it from another bog I read, https://mukhamani.wordpress.com, written by a truly lovely woman.
April 24, 2018 at 1:07 pm
I will. Thank you.
April 24, 2018 at 1:10 pm
Like you Bojana, she is someone who has seen, and sees life, in ways I could never imagine. It is inspiring and incredibly beautiful. She also has a son with RP, which is how we discovered each other.
April 24, 2018 at 1:15 pm
Soul sister. To see a world in a grain of sand…
April 24, 2018 at 1:11 pm
Blog, not bog….Jesus, I am hopeless.
April 24, 2018 at 1:43 pm
No, you’re just you, uniquely beautiful and imaginative. What would you say if I told you ‘bog’ means ‘god’ in Serbian?
April 24, 2018 at 2:10 pm
I just got the chills……