Septercet

Welcome to Day 1 of the July Open Write. If you have written with us before, welcome back. If you are joining us for the first time, you are in the kind, capable hands of today’s host, so just read prompt below and then, when you are ready, write in the comment section below. We do ask that if you write that, in the spirit of reciprocity, you respond to three or more writers. To learn more about the Open Write, click here.

Our Host

Denise taught elementary grades, junior high, and college undergrads for 28 years before retiring. She has two married daughters, a grandbaby and one more on the way.  She lives with her husband and some wild desert animals in Yucca Valley, California. Denise is coauthor of The Genius Hour Guidebook. She has some published poems in several anthologies, and she blogs regularly at Dare to Care. 

Inspiration 

Last month, in honor of my sister Judi who died in April, I wrote a poem each day about my siblings. On several of those days, I used some form of the septercet. For this prompt, I went out to do some exploring to learn the history of the septercet. Sept is a Latin combining form meaning seven, tercet is a three-line stanza. So, each of the three lines in a septercet has seven syllables. Read more from and about Jane Yolen, inventor of the septercet. In addition, Mo Daley shared a blackjack poem prompt a few years ago, which is the same 3 x 7 format, where each stanza equals lucky 21.

Process

Let’s try something with the septercet today. You can write just one three-line stanza. Or multiple stanzas, as many as you need. Rhyming is optional. My poem is one of my May sibling poems, where I tried a sort of septercet “sonnet.” 

The subject matter is wide open, but here are a few suggestions from our mentors:

1. Mo Daley, in shout out to the 21 of blackjack, wrote about a risk she and her husband took. As Mo suggested, you can write about a time when you took a risk and it paid off. Or if it didn’t pay off, did you wish you had played it safe?
2. Jane Yolen shared a prompt “write a poem in which reading and/or writing is featured in the form of a septercet.” She has written an example too, with rhyme. Scroll down at the link.
3. In my example, I used nature as the frame for my poem about my siblings. You might also choose to use nature to frame another subject.
4. Of course, as always, write anything you want or need to. You will honor us by sharing it here today. 

Denise’s Poem

Pink sky dawn, chirping begins
Reptiles warm, newly alive
emerge from their winter cold

Hope in this new day will stay
fragile family bowknot–
ties up love like rose-tinged clouds

Queue up the next crescendo
dulcet and devout playing
on this blooming day in May

Life is a bouquet of kin
to fragrance and keep the soul

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may choose to use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming. If you’d like to invite other teachers to write with us, tell them to subscribe.