A Welsh form an Awdl Gywydd:

In summary:

• Four lines

• Seven syllables per line

• The final syllable of the first and third lines rhyme with the 3rd 5th syllable of the following lines

• 2nd & 4th lines rhyme.

Useful Weblinks:

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/awdl-gywydd-poetic-forms

https://allpoetry.com/list/76449-Welsh-form–Awdl-gywydd

Awdl Gywydd

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awdl

https://www.volecentral.co.uk/vf/awdl.htm

Ghost Mill, revisited

Again
grooved granite mill-stones grind
formless flour from coarse grain.
The brake wheel clanks; the wind
thrums an untuned refrain.

How Did It Go?

I had not heard of the Bob and Wheel and enjoyed spending some time researching the form – this led me to revisit Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, echoes of which may perhaps be found in my use of alliteration.
I always like content and form to interact, so wanted to invoke a sense of turning, of repetition, but also of disruption. After one or two false starts I settled on a ghostly windmill (modelled on De Valk in Leiden, the Netherlands) as a metaphor for the current Groundhog Day politics here in the UK. It’s the closest I’ve ever come to political commentary in a poem!
In my writing I frequently make use of syllabic constraint, but not of rhyme schemes, so it was an interesting challenge to work within the restrictions of this form while at the same time trying to express a coherent idea in five short lines. The second and third lines are deliberately weighty while the final two lines are intended to have a lighter, but also disquieting, music.
Thank you for introducing me to this form! I very much enjoyed the challenge. One day I would like to try applying the Bob and Wheel as ‘punctuation points’ within a longer poem, as the poet of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight does.

-Marian Christie

Halloween

Pumpkins
in fogged October skies
weird lop-sided grins
gleaming with Devil’s eyes.
Such darkness hides within.

How Did It Go?

This poem came fairly easily once I decided to use Pumpkins as the “bob”.

-Tim Fellows

Walker and stalker

Walking where the leaves drift deep and rust-red dry,
in silence broken only by the wild jay’s cry,
where dapples fall in golden coins on dusty earth,
and every breathing thing waits for the rain, rebirth
of sprout and shoot and crawling things, tight buds, the spring,
we wait, hoof raised, paw poised, birds balanced on the wing.

I hear
twigs crack and heavy tread
of boots. Red flash, a deer
on flying hooves has fled
the danger creeping near.

How did it go?

I hesitated over this one. The purpose of the bob and wheel was to be a sort of interjection, an interruption in the flow of a story, drawing attention to itself with the command-like ‘bob’ and the phrasing of the ‘wheel’ that stands out from the rest of the verse with its short rhymed lines in a different meter. I didn’t see how it would make sense without context, so I added a preceding piece of verse. Maybe I’ve completely misunderstood the point, but there you are.

-Jane Dougherty

Two Bob And Wheel

1.
Banquet /Linens (A Bob and Wheel).

We recoil,
drink more shots than we should.
Drop down tables soiled.
Promising we could
expect fat more broiled.

2.

Annotations (A Bob and a Wheel)

To temper
The tenacious tenor’s
Notes on Emperors
Open September
Drawing the censor

How Did It Go?

A Bob and A Wheel is an unfamiliar form to me; short but short not always the easiest to pull off. That this is a Medieval construction makes sense – also theatrical dynamism and long epic. From what I read, sometimes these short sequences were interspersed with longer prose or other poetic forms/metres – an early hybridity! I realized as I worked on this, I was creating little ‘dialogues’ or monologue (stand front-centre, deliver the lines, exit stage left). I think the two pieces go together; I ask you, dear readers, to imagine some text in between – a scene, a landscape, — is there (in invisible ink) – or imagine your own scene, time, place, past meeting indelible futures / stamp/ liminal erasure – Robert Frede Kenter http://www.icefloepress.net

-Robert Frede Kenter

Bios And Links

-Marian Christie

was born in Zimbabwe and travelled widely before moving to her current home in Kent, southeast England. Publications include a chapbook, Fractal Poems (Penteract Press), and a collection of essays, From Fibs to Fractals: exploring mathematical forms in poetry (Beir Bua Press). When not reading or writing poetry, Marian looks at the stars, puzzles over the laws of physics, listens to birdsong and crochets.
She blogs at http://www.marianchristiepoetry.net and is on Twitter @marian_v_o.

-Robert Frede Kenter

is a widely published writer, visual artist, Pushcart nom & the EIC/Publisher of Ice Floe Press. Books incl. EDEN (2021) available http://www.rareswanpress.com. Work in Anthologies incl. The Book of Penteract (Penteract Press, 2022) & Before I Turn into Gold, (FeversOftheMind). Publ. recent: Erato, CutbowQ, Streetcake Magazine, WatchYrHead, Anthropocene, Anti-heroin chic and others. Toronto-based, previously, NYC, San Francisco, etc. Living with ME/Fibro, Robert, sometimes sidelined, is never out of the game. Twitter: @frede_kenter & @icefloeP.

F 1.31. Water-demon

F 2.31. The Sack Man

F 3.31. mapinguari_statue_parque_ambiental_chico_mendes_rio_branco_brazil

31. Render
(F 2.31 The Sack Man)

When you are in the sack, and he is whistling along
you wonder if you weigh that much at all.
You think of the still, strung barrel of pig
your mother nodded down
from its market gibbet, telling you
to hold and not drop. Its flat snout
nudged your bicep as you jogged its bulk.

The burlap mesh burns your limbs,
bare for summer. The same spot again.
And in between his huffs of exertion,
a pheasant barks past, a wren strings its song.
He gently explains the client is wealthy
but fearfully ill. What an opportunity.
Who, at seven, can say they have saved a man?

It amuses him, as he swigs from
a calf canteen, that his sack contains
another sack. You. What wonders, he coos,
you forge in your body. How magically
blood and fat become life and gold.
They are looking for me at home, you croak.
I imagine so, he says, and goes on.

-Kirsten Irving

Water Music (F 1.31 Water-demon)

She sings the song of a mournful sea
Her limpid voice rising and falling
Trilling and soaring in pouring streams
Of round crystal notes that bubble
Forth in a rising key, chasing
Each other like beads on a string-

Her chorus rings forth with the evening tide –
Crashing and pounding, ebbing and flowing
In a constant surge of undertow
Churning up the deepest blue notes
Of the thrumming midnight sea

Sea demon, songstress of the weeping sea.

-Jacqueline Dempsey-Cohen

Mélusine

In the deep water, the spirals speak
in the tongue of vengeance,
a daughter’s fury with the father
who broke his word.

Who broke his word to respect
her mother’s secret, for being a man,
his word, given to a woman, had no weight,
her wishes, a feather in the talons of an eagle.

She took her anger to the depths
outside the world of men, of men
who ruled the world in the name
of the dead man hanging in a tree.

She brought them up, her daughters,
in the deep water, taught them
no man is to be trusted, not even a lover,
not even a father, especially not a father.

Such women can only be serpents,
speak with the devil’s forked tongue,
for whoever heard of a woman
demanding respect from her lord?

-Jane Dougherty

Inspired by 2.31 The Sack Man

The Sack Man

The Sack Man will take you away,
if you are not good, if you do not obey,

he’ll toss you in his sack
and never ever bring you back.

So say parents, teachers, priests, and nuns–
while their children cry at night,

see shapes in shadows,
ghouls and ghosts that glower–
midnight’s power–

frozen in fear, tongue-tied in terror,
they wait for daylight,
forever–

they feel love mixed with panic,
hope rusts, never gleams–
they are too scared to dream.

-Merril D Smith

Bios and Links

-Jane Dougherty

lives and works in southwest France. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her poems and stories have been published in magazines and journals including Ogham Stone, the Ekphrastic Review, Black Bough Poetry, ink sweat and tears, Gleam, Nightingale & Sparrow, Green Ink and Brilliant Flash Fiction. She blogs at https://janedougherty.wordpress.com/ Her poetry chapbooks, thicker than water and birds and other feathers were published in October and November 2020.

-Eryn McConnell

is a poet originally from the UK who now lives in South Germany with their family. They have been writing poetry since their teens and is currently working on their second collection of poems.

-Spriha Kant

developed an interest in reading and writing poetries at a very tender age. Her poetry “The Seashell” was first published online in the “Imaginary Land Stories” on August 8, 2020, by Sunmeet Singh. She has been a part of Stuart Matthew’s anthology “Sing, Do the birds of Spring” in the fourth series of books from #InstantEternal poetry prompts. She has been featured in the Bob Dylan-inspired anthology “Hard Rain Poetry: Forever Dylan” by the founder and editor of the website “Fevers of the Mind Poetry and Art” David L O’ Nan. Her poetries have been published in the anthology “Bare Bones Writing Issue 1: Fevers of the Mind”. Paul Brookes has featured her poetry, “A Monstrous Shadow”, based on a photograph clicked by herself, as the “Seventh Synergy” in “SYNERGY: CALLING ALL WRITERS WHO ARE PHOTOGRAPHERS” on his blog “The Wombwell Rainbow”. She has been featured in the “Quick-9 interview” on feversofthemind.com by David L’O Nan. She has reviewed the poetry book “Silence From The Shadows” by Stuart Matthews. Her acrostic poetry “A Rainstorm” has been published in the Poetic Form Challenge on the blog “TheWombwell Rainbow” owned by Paul Brookes. She also joined the movement “World Suicide Prevention Day” by contributing her poetry “Giving Up The Smooch” on the blog “The Wombwell Rainbow”, an initiative taken by Paul Brookes.

-Gaynor Kane

from Belfast in Northern Ireland, had no idea that when she started a degree with the OU at forty it would be life changing.  It magically turned her into a writer and now she has a few collections of poetry published, all by The Hedgehog Poetry Press Recently, she has been a judge for The North Carolina Poetry Society and guest sub-editor for the inaugural issue of The Storms: A journal of prose, poetry and visual art. Her new chapbook, Eight Types of Love, was released in July. Follow her on Twitter @gaynorkane or read more at www.gaynorkane.com

-Dave Garbutt

has been writing poems since he was 17 and has still not learned to give up. His poems have been published in The Brown Envelope Anthology, and magazines (Horizon, Writers & Readers) most recently on XRcreative and forthcoming in the Deronda review. His poem ‘ripped’ was long listed in the Rialto Nature & Place competition 2021. In August 2021 he took part in the Postcard Poetry Festival and the chap book that came from that is available at the postcard festival website. https://ppf.cascadiapoeticslab.org/2021/11/08/dave-garbutt-interview/.

He was born less than a mile from where Keats lived in N London and sometimes describes himself as ‘a failed biologist, like Keats’, in the 70’s he moved to Reading until till moving to Switzerland (in 1994), where he still lives. He has found the time since the pandemic very productive as many workshops and groups opened up to non-locals as they moved to Zoom. 

Dave retired from the science and IT world in 2016 and he is active on Twitter, FaceBook, Medium.com, Flickr (he had a solo exhibition of his photographs in March 2017). He leads monthly bird walks around the Birs river in NW Switzerland. His tag is @DavGar51.

-Merril D. Smith

lives in southern New Jersey near the Delaware River. Her poetry has been published in several poetry journals and anthologies, including Black Bough Poetry, Anti-Heroin Chic,  Fevers of the Mind, and Nightingale and Sparrow. Her first full-length poetry collection, River Ghosts, is forthcoming from Nightingale & Sparrow Press.  Twitter: @merril_mds  Instagram: mdsmithnj  Website/blog: merrildsmith.com

-Jacqueline Dempsey-Cohen,

a retired teacher and children’s library specialist, considers herself an adventurer. She has meandered the country in an old Chevy van and flown along on midnight runs in a smoky old Convair 440 to deliver the Wall Street Journal. She is a licensed pilot, coffee house lingerer, and finds her inspiration and solace in nature in all its glorious diversity. Loving wife and mother, she makes her home in the wilds of Portland OR. www.MudAndInkPoetry.art 

F 1.30. The morrigan

F 2.30. Cabeça Satânica satanic-head

F 3.30. Kuchisake onna

Trinities (inspired by F 1.30. The morrigan)

They are far off those days,
when wisdom came in threes
and trinities were women.

Past, present and future,
raven-haired, crow-winged, red-lipped,
wrapped in fire, war leader and inventor,

she came with three faces,
healing and a spear in her hands,
poems in her mouth,

girl, mother and wise sean bhean
bringer of birth, fertility and death,
spring, summer and winter.

They are far off those days,
when women led their men
to protect the land,

forgotten now and buried
beneath long centuries
of blood and greed.

-Jane Dougherty

F 1.30 The Morrígan

Glory

Wings unfurled, beak agape,
she gathers the sun in her feathers
burning black against the blood-red sky

to pierce the hearts of her army
and shred the souls of her enemy
She is mighty, goddess, warrior queen

Her hollow bones singing
Her fierce wings beating
She soars above broken bits

of men and dreams.
and plummets,
an arrow aimed at tender meat

-Jacqueline Dempsey-Cohen

The Morrigan (Inspired by F1.30 The Morrigan)

They carry wisdom on their wings,
caw and shout, but few will listen,
they whisper to the wounded and dead,
here we’re connected, here’s the thread

between Earth and time
what comes after has been before,
still men insist they’re crows of war–

but their ferocity is not for sword, spear,
gold, or sky above,
their fierce power comes from motherlove—

sister goddesses, a triad encircled,
black feathered they stand,
guardians of their children
protectors of the land.

-Merril D Smith

Bios and Links

-Jane Dougherty

lives and works in southwest France. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her poems and stories have been published in magazines and journals including Ogham Stone, the Ekphrastic Review, Black Bough Poetry, ink sweat and tears, Gleam, Nightingale & Sparrow, Green Ink and Brilliant Flash Fiction. She blogs at https://janedougherty.wordpress.com/ Her poetry chapbooks, thicker than water and birds and other feathers were published in October and November 2020.

-Eryn McConnell

is a poet originally from the UK who now lives in South Germany with their family. They have been writing poetry since their teens and is currently working on their second collection of poems.

-Spriha Kant

developed an interest in reading and writing poetries at a very tender age. Her poetry “The Seashell” was first published online in the “Imaginary Land Stories” on August 8, 2020, by Sunmeet Singh. She has been a part of Stuart Matthew’s anthology “Sing, Do the birds of Spring” in the fourth series of books from #InstantEternal poetry prompts. She has been featured in the Bob Dylan-inspired anthology “Hard Rain Poetry: Forever Dylan” by the founder and editor of the website “Fevers of the Mind Poetry and Art” David L O’ Nan. Her poetries have been published in the anthology “Bare Bones Writing Issue 1: Fevers of the Mind”. Paul Brookes has featured her poetry, “A Monstrous Shadow”, based on a photograph clicked by herself, as the “Seventh Synergy” in “SYNERGY: CALLING ALL WRITERS WHO ARE PHOTOGRAPHERS” on his blog “The Wombwell Rainbow”. She has been featured in the “Quick-9 interview” on feversofthemind.com by David L’O Nan. She has reviewed the poetry book “Silence From The Shadows” by Stuart Matthews. Her acrostic poetry “A Rainstorm” has been published in the Poetic Form Challenge on the blog “TheWombwell Rainbow” owned by Paul Brookes. She also joined the movement “World Suicide Prevention Day” by contributing her poetry “Giving Up The Smooch” on the blog “The Wombwell Rainbow”, an initiative taken by Paul Brookes.

-Gaynor Kane

from Belfast in Northern Ireland, had no idea that when she started a degree with the OU at forty it would be life changing.  It magically turned her into a writer and now she has a few collections of poetry published, all by The Hedgehog Poetry Press Recently, she has been a judge for The North Carolina Poetry Society and guest sub-editor for the inaugural issue of The Storms: A journal of prose, poetry and visual art. Her new chapbook, Eight Types of Love, was released in July. Follow her on Twitter @gaynorkane or read more at www.gaynorkane.com

-Dave Garbutt

has been writing poems since he was 17 and has still not learned to give up. His poems have been published in The Brown Envelope Anthology, and magazines (Horizon, Writers & Readers) most recently on XRcreative and forthcoming in the Deronda review. His poem ‘ripped’ was long listed in the Rialto Nature & Place competition 2021. In August 2021 he took part in the Postcard Poetry Festival and the chap book that came from that is available at the postcard festival website. https://ppf.cascadiapoeticslab.org/2021/11/08/dave-garbutt-interview/.

He was born less than a mile from where Keats lived in N London and sometimes describes himself as ‘a failed biologist, like Keats’, in the 70’s he moved to Reading until till moving to Switzerland (in 1994), where he still lives. He has found the time since the pandemic very productive as many workshops and groups opened up to non-locals as they moved to Zoom. 

Dave retired from the science and IT world in 2016 and he is active on Twitter, FaceBook, Medium.com, Flickr (he had a solo exhibition of his photographs in March 2017). He leads monthly bird walks around the Birs river in NW Switzerland. His tag is @DavGar51.

-Merril D. Smith

lives in southern New Jersey near the Delaware River. Her poetry has been published in several poetry journals and anthologies, including Black Bough Poetry, Anti-Heroin Chic,  Fevers of the Mind, and Nightingale and Sparrow. Her first full-length poetry collection, River Ghosts, is forthcoming from Nightingale & Sparrow Press.  Twitter: @merril_mds  Instagram: mdsmithnj  Website/blog: merrildsmith.com

-Jacqueline Dempsey-Cohen,

a retired teacher and children’s library specialist, considers herself an adventurer. She has meandered the country in an old Chevy van and flown along on midnight runs in a smoky old Convair 440 to deliver the Wall Street Journal. She is a licensed pilot, coffee house lingerer, and finds her inspiration and solace in nature in all its glorious diversity. Loving wife and mother, she makes her home in the wilds of Portland OR. www.MudAndInkPoetry.art