To the girl in sequined long dress
exuding grace with innocence,
your future is anyone’s guess.
Oh, time can reveal what it is.
To the lady with red sharp nails
wearing your faux sensual, thin veil,
your young age allows you to fail,
our fate will be better than this.
To the woman clothed in deep scars
bearing burns from her fallen stars.
You have lost and won many wars.
Oh, now you know how living feels.
—
03.26.2018
©2018 Rosemawrites@A Reading Writer. All Rights Reserved.
Photo via Unsplash
In response to Blogging from A to Z Challenge and NaPoWriMo 2018.
U is for Utendi.
The Utendi or Untenzi (Swahili meaning deed or act) is a Swahili stanzaic form that I first found at Vole Central that is a Zejel without the Mudanza. The form is usually a narrative and should tell a story. Swahili epics appear in this form.
The elements of the Utendi are:
African Poetic Genres and Forms
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a narrative.
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stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains.
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syllabic, 8 syllable lines.
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rhymed, rhyme aaab cccb dddb etc. The b rhyme is a linking rhyme between stanzas.
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Your words are sharp even though the emotion is simple and that’s the beauty of this work.
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i treasure your comment. thank you so much!
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Progress in life, hard-won and simply hard, is impressively portrayed from “exuding grace with innocence” to “bearing burns from her fallen stars.” You use metaphor so effectively to show reality. This is wise work, sister!
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Awwww. I am always impressed on how you understood my work, brother. No one interprets my poems better than you. Im eternally grateful. 🙂
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Every line speaks volumes even though the number of words are few. This shows the extent of your brilliant writing, sweetie. Love, love, love this.
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awww. you are ever kind and sweet, sweetie. I appreciate you!
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