Today, I was remembering. . .
Passiflora Incarnata
Remember the day we met
Remember the day we parted
Remember the in-between
Remember the sycamore trees in December
Remember the lilacs in May
Remember the limestone walls & palisades
Remember the blank canvases & the gesso
Remember the studios scented in terpentine & oil
Remember the easels in gardens with light
Remember the gardens with duets in song
Remember the gardens in cold November
Remember the passiflora incarnata in June
Remember the meditations under the moon
Remember the pentimento of our days.
Jacquelyn Markham (4/14/24)
Napowrimo.net Prompt: Today’s (optional) prompt asks you to write a poem of at least ten lines in which each line begins with the same word (e.g., “Because,” “Forget,” “Not,” “If”). This technique of beginning multiple lines with the same word or phrase is called anaphora, and has long been used to give poems a driving rhythm and/or a sense of puzzlebox mystery. To give you more context, here’s an essay by Rebecca Hazelton on her students’ “adventures in anaphora,” and a contemporary poem that uses anaphora to great effect: Layli Long Soldier’s “Whereas.”
Poet Voice 