Like lead: still burdened by the winter’s seal
come break it, have the yoke of onus banned
With sun’s delight, we say farewell to night
a blowing wind, to lift this pregnant veil
and wake from sleep: the verdant vale;
let purple hedgerows scent the dawn; enlighten night;
as we are setting sail, for sea to smash the seal
of sullen snowdrift, melt the ice, and let the band
of golden gulls and daffodils; unbanned.
and doom the hail, the gale, and like the seal
who dances with the waves — unveiled
we meadow-barefoot challenge night,
and by the river meet the spring, a knight
his cyclops-eye, a Midas’ lamp above, unveils
a sky of indigo and shells — conducts the band
of diamond daggers, slash-destroy the winter’s seal.
Perfume me in your vale, untethered lift the broken seal
as netherworld of night by songs are shunned and banned.
A photo from Madeira manipulated by me.
Today I present my Quartina at toads, it’s a form I have invented myself and it is a downscaled sestina, making it a little bit easier to cope with. Having listened the whole day to Poetry by Tomas Tranströmer who died earlier this week, some of his metaphors might have inspired me. I will also link this to PU tomorrow morning.
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Hey Bjorn–very well done. I did not realize Transtromer had died–I like him very much. (I’ve been a bit out of it this week.) Thanks. k.
Bjorn, your writing is nothing less than astounding.
I really enjoyed your wordings here, Bjorn. In part, it feels like it pays homage to the arrival of spring,and then again the ending has a a mythological feel which adds another dimension. I also like how you manipulated the photo – lovely!
Your poem made me think of Antique poetry and the way it celebrated the arrival of spring.
The form is spectacularly done Bjorn ~ That third stanza stands out for me with the undulating waves ~ Admiring the word pairing: meadow-barefoot, slash-destroy ~ That ending couplet is perfume of night songs ~ You make this look easy, smiles ~
I think this poem is amazing, both in technique and content. It is a pleasure to read, while noting the slight changes to meaning of the chosen words. I especially liked the uses of ‘seal’.
beautifully picturesque and effortless…wowzers…
interesting form..and a lot of images come into one.
This certainly has a beat, almost chant like as it flashes images at us. Really great to read.
Wonderful poem…beautifully executed…sent me into a whole new dimension of possibilities! Good job sir 🙂
Oh, I was sad when I heard about Transtromer on Friday. It’s nice that you wrote a poem as a sort of ‘homage’ to him, even without doing purposefully.
A rich poem..the line that sprang out to me was bare foot in a meadow…that sounds like bliss
as i read on… your poem seemed to take more life… some wonderful word pictures in your work
Bjorn, I am not familiar with the form, but I feel there is the need to set sail untethered from winter into the land of spring..unveiled longing to inhale a breath of warm air..
This is so full of imagery … loved it 🙂
Not tried this form. Appears to be very challenging. You’ve done it very well coupled with great poetic language! Great write Bjorn!
Hank
it’s a challenging form but you make it look easy. 🙂
The form, itself, is intimidating to try, but your work here makes it feel so entrancing! I enjoyed it, Bjorn, thank you.
So that’s how it’s supposed to be done! *grin* Beautiful! And on a grey, cold and rainy Stockholm day like today I love it even more! Storartat!
fantastic verse, Bjorn. It brims over with spring’s metaphor. I Like your new form – you the adventurer in poetry.
I love this form, was trying to identify it as I was reading, thanks for the note underneath. It sings, it uplifts, your word choices are gorgeous. This is one of my faves of yours, Bjorn. Just stellar writing!
cool write! I love the style
”let purple hedgerows scent the dawn; enlighten night;”
Lovely word play to ignite the senses, Bjorn. Spring is in gear, not fully, but slowly, its roots will sprout above ground, where snow has finally disappeared, making way for a fresh unveiling.
Poppy
Beautiful dreams of spring!
What a wonderful piece, and so fun to read out loud!
Wow….I loved this form and the many images you brought forth here….as we are just beginning to see spring’s slow walk, I felt the passion of this poem…
‘and wake from sleep: the verdant vale;
let purple hedgerows scent the dawn; enlighten night’
Oh to see winter go and spring move into the spotlight. Well done here Bjorn!
This sounds mythical ~ and wow, you invented your own form, how creative.
Beautiful writing in your own invented form, Bjorn. The longing for spring to break the wintry clutch is quite felt!
Great photo manipulation. I enjoyed your poem so much. We all have dark, icy places that need the seal broken. I’m impressed with your form. That’s probably one of the most creative things to do – to develop your own form. You’re a man of many talents Bjorn. So nice to know you.
I liked the cut-out photo, Bjorn.
The poem is a like a song or a celebratory plea. Spring’s here but in some ways winter memories linger.
Midas and his golden touch 🙂
Well, now I’ll have to try this myself–this is lovely. Except I had to keep reminding myself that you were breaking restraints/emblems and not animals! Sorry. Quite a plea up into the cosmos.
Perhaps trite and simplistic but sometimes, not often, but sometimes a simple WOW! must suffice !
This one of yours is nice too, I like it a little better than your Challenge post. What I liked best were the seasons, the snow, flowers, the storm, and the river.
Thank you for this challenge, yes, it also took me about three hours with no time for mellowing or proofreading. I did keep it in iambic pentameter which worked well for me.
On the challenge comment I left the following:
“Well, Bjorn, I liked this one also. You made a good choice. It took more time for me to compose though.
I wrote my end words first, then wrote lines that fit with each other and as a not used meaning or context for each of the four words.
More proofreading might confuse me??”
..
I like your kingdom…
I have not seen this form before. It’s very interesting. Your wording brings so much imagery and I like that 🙂 I really love the title as well. Something about it really got me.
This is so beautiful. You have created a poetic flow I wasn’t able to create with mine. I love your third stanza.
luv this classical approach to your Spring yearning
warm wishes
much love…
Longing expressed in a most wondrous manner.
I came back for another read from Toads. I love it even more second time through. My heart lifts up at some of the lines…….the imagery is gorgeous and the rhythm so enjoyable to read.
what a lovely voyage this poem creates…the picture below works perfectly as a visual. wonderful words.
You write so beautifully. FF just the tip of the iceberg.
Hey Bjorn–hope all is well–and that you are kayaking or something! Missed your sweet presence. k.
Just been up in the Arctic North a bit..
So cool! Literally!
I seem to have missed this piece earlier. It struck me as having a rather Midsummer Night’s Dreamlike quality to it – albeit breaking winter’s seal. A lovely medieval-esque phraseology to some of the lines – channelling a bit of the Bard, me thinkes. A stellar write: Just wonderful!