In response to popular demand, here are the triolets that were not posted as finalists. You can see what a hard choice I had to narrow things down at all -- they're all so good.
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"Swing Triolet"
Istanbul
Was Constantinople
Istanbul
Went all uncool:
From Byzantine jewel
To Mohammedan opal.
Istanbul
Was Constantinople.
(by Meredith)
"She Ponders An Unexpected Love"
I love you and not less because
You're not the one I thought I'd love
(What eyes see not, blind Cupid does.)
I love you and not less because
You were in love before I was,
You saw it coming like a dove.
I love you and not less because
You're not the one I thought I'd love.
(by Leah)
Oh, come, oh come, oh enneagram
And save us from His precious love
We pimp ourselves for Fraud and Sham
Oh, come, oh, come, oh enneagram
We sell our birthright for flim-flam
Who needs the Father, Son, and Dove?
Oh, come, oh come, oh enneagram
And save us from His precious love.
Let's chase from every single parish
Hell and sin and Holy Fear
Let's make our architecture barish.
Let's chase from every single parish
God almighty. Then let's cherish
Moods and feelings, vague, unclear -
Let's chase from every single parish
Hell and sin and Holy Fear.
If music be the food of love
Then this will make for indigestion
A pinch of pop, some dreck a dash of.
If music be the food of love,
Throw out the manna from above,
Get “Glory and Praise”, for without question,
If music be the food of love
Then this will make for indigestion.
(all by Kevin O.)
The poor and lonely Kraken
Lives more friendless than the moon.
No friends come by for snackin'...
The poor and lonely Kraken
(They'd keep him from attackin'
If they'd come to visit soon.)
The poor and lonely Kraken
Lives more friendless than the moon.
I'll try a triolet on cheese
(Brie or Cheddar, Stilton, Swiss)
Such flavors may repel or please
I'll try a triolet on cheese
Though crumbs are falling on the keys -
Another glass of wine, please, miss?
I'll try a triolet on cheese:
Brie or Cheddar, Stilton, Swiss...
The Latin on the keyboard coded
Still proclaims our debt to Rome.
The Q of quaestio eroded?
(The Latin on the keyboard coded)
And to Io is io devoted!
In ampersand e.t. phones home...
The Latin on the keyboard coded
Still proclaims our debt to Rome.
A shower long I long to take
As now I have begun to itch
Beneath the sun I had to bake
A shower long I long to take
The yard is whacked, I did not rake
(I'd pay some kids if I were rich)
A shower long I long to take
As now I have begun to itch.
(all by Dr. Thursday)
"The Buzzard"
The buzzard is a two-faced schnook
Who cannot either hunt or fight.
He hovers 'round his rocky nook;
The buzzard is a two-faced schnook.
He likes to eat, but not to cook,
And rushes in to take a bite.
The buzzard is a two-faced schnook
Who cannot either hunt or fight.
(by Charlemagne)
* * *
There were also a few submissions that were actually not triolets at all. I'm not sure what confusion gave rise to those -- I guess my instructions must have been unclear. I probably should have written the poets and said something, but I never managed to do that. Mea culpa. Anyway, I didn't include them here.
6 comments:
I would like to nominate the author of the Istanbul triolet for some sort of lifetime achievement award, regardless of the other things she may have done, or even may ever do.
HolEE cow - how did I ever make the finals? These are all so much better! Really! The enneagram one is so ON.
And I love the "Swing Triolet". Have you heard the version of the song done by They Might Be Giants?
Is there any other version?
Well, I didn't want to put all the poems of any one poet, because then the votes would be divided among his different poems, and he'd have less chance of winning. Kevin's other poems outshone the enneagram one, in my opinion.
Besides, Candlestring, lots of us either identify with your poem, or know someone it fits pretty well. Universal sympathy is a great thing in a poem. That's why I selected yours. "God said instead, 'Here, have three sons'" was a cute line, too. It gives me a picture of God tossing down three little white bundles with an offhand comment. Chesterton would appreciate the image, I'm sure.
That said, though, I think I may have to give Meredith an honorable mention. I liked her poem myself, you know. (I liked all the submissions, I think. You all outdid yourselves.) And three of you seem to have nominated her. :)
Well, thank you. I will shut up about it now, because you are so kind.
Yes, there is a different version of the song! It is an old song, much like the movie You've Got Mail is really based on two previous movies and a play.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul_(Not_Constantinople)
Or was it a rhetorical question like "Starbucks? Is there any other place to buy coffee?" Though of course, to that I would still answer YES, there is.
I do hate to point it out, but the "Swing Triolet" is not really a proper triolet, seeing as the first line does not repeat in the fourth line. I was writing it in class, according to some half-remembered triolets I had read, and I got the form wrong.
Though maybe it can stand as an exception, since it is copying a song chorus?
(Tip for aspiring poets: if you mess up a form, claim that you were just making up a new one. Shakespearian vs. Petrarchan sonnets and all that. I hereby christen 'Istanbul' a Meredithian Triolet.)
Yes, I noticed that. It was slight enough to consider overlooking, but I'm afraid it's the main reason it didn't make the Finals. It was a really good poem, qua poem, though not qua Chestertonian triolet.
Hm, a Meredithian triolet? Sounds reasonable. ;)
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