I wrote another “Etheree” poem: “Wise Woman”

the 'Wise Woman' on the beach

Here’s another Etheree poem written by yours truly, which I call Wise Woman.

If you’re new to my blog, or have forgotten what an Etheree poem is, I’ll  repeat what I wrote before:   It’s a little-known poetry format created about twenty years ago by an Arkansas poet named Etheree Taylor Armstrong,  just ten lines long, uncomplicated, unpretentious, and non-rhyming, it starts with a line of one syllable, then adds one syllable per line, until the last line of ten syllables, for an overall syllable count of 55.

Wise Woman

Wise

Woman

at soixante.

Imagine that

before Jane Fonda

I’d be called a crone

locked away, forgotten…

I wear my gray hair, my wrinkles

with pride. I earned them honestly.

Now this rose, a late bloomer, will blossom

*

My friend Dinah said one can also write an Etheree starting at line ten and going backwards, so here it is.  What do you think?

Now this rose, a late bloomer, will blossom

with pride. I earned them honestly.

I wear my grey hair, my wrinkles

locked away, forgotten…

I’d be called a crone

before Jane Fonda

Imagine that

at soixante.

Woman

Wise

*

In case you’re interested, I’ve written one other Etheree poem, called Rain

 

Blossoms of an evergreen pear (Pyrus kawakamii) I pass driving to work.

Withthanks to E fullstop for helping me identify these flowering pear trees