The purpose of this blog post is to explain why I wrote the poem
Whisper in the way I did, which differs, as Constance La France notes in her blog post
Wistful, Write, Weep, Whisper Words Judged, from Poetry Soup's definition of the traditional cinquain form, although the PS definition does mention variations of the form (and, no, I am NOT complaining about the poem's placement in the contest).
Poetry Soup definition of cinquain
About 30 years ago I started writing poetry. Not long after that I discovered the cinquain. I wrote it according to the rules of the form as developed by its founder, Adelaide Crapsey.
Adele crapsey
Subsequently, I found Amaze: The Cinquain Journal edited by Deborah P. Kolodji. (I am proud to say that several of my cinquain were published in that, now defunct, journal.)
I believe it was Kolodji who said a cinquain can be written in such a way that the first and last lines when read together and separate from the cinquain create a "mini poem."
Kolodji also said:
"...Modern cinquain writers have been refining the form as they experiment, sometimes using resonance between the first and last lines to bring the poem full circle. Many poets writing today’s cinquains draw from their experiences with haiku, effectively using juxtaposition to divide the poem into two halves, which compliment each other with layered meanings.
"Cinquain poets have also been experimenting with cinquain variations – cinquain sequences (polystanzaic poems made up of cinquain stanzas), crown cinquains (a five stanza cinquain sequence), reverse cinquains (a cinquain with a reverse syllable pattern of 2-8-6-4-2), mirror cinquains (a two stanza cinquain sequence of the pattern 2-4-6-8-2 2-8-6-4-2), and cinquain butterflies (a “merged mirror cinquain” where the two stanzas of a mirror cinquain are merged together, one of the middle 2 syllable lines is dropped, resulting in one nine line stanza of the form 2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2). Please note that a cinquain butterfly is not a “cinquain” because it doesn’t have five lines, but it is a “butterfly” made up of two cinquains that were merged together into one poem."
Knowing What Counts: The Cinquain By Deborah P Kolodji
Deborah P Kolodji, biography
So, then, my poem Whisper is a reverse mirror cinquain containing the mini poem Whisper/echoes/of times/with you.
Whisper
BTW I have also read that in an expertly crafted cinquain the first line, the end word of lines 2, 3, 4 and the fifth line when read together and separately from the cinquain create a mini poem. Sadly, I have not yet reached that level of expertise.