Perfectly Paradelle | Teen Ink

Perfectly Paradelle

July 4, 2022
By EmilyTheKiwi PLATINUM, Flemington, New Jersey
EmilyTheKiwi PLATINUM, Flemington, New Jersey
30 articles 1 photo 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Picture a wave. In the ocean. You can see it, measure it, its height, the way the sunlight refracts when it passes through. And it's there. And you can see it, you know what it is. It's a wave.

And then it crashes in the shore and it's gone. But the water is still there. The wave was just a different way for the water to be, for a little while. You know it's one conception of death for Buddhists: the wave returns to the ocean, where it came from and where it's supposed to be."
-The Good Place


I like to stare at cloud-covered know-nothing skies.

I like to stare at cloud-covered know-nothing skies.

Soon a raindrop clears away my tears.

Soon a raindrop clears away my tears.

I know tears like a raindrop away to skies,

My cloud-covered stare at nothing soon clears.

 


My name an echo carried over the wind.

My name an echo carried over the wind.

Surrounded by people yet alone all the same.

Surrounded by people yet alone all the same.

An echo, alone, yet surrounded by the same wind.

Carried over all the people, my name.

 


Silence is no longer broken by the ticking clock.

Silence is no longer broken by the ticking clock.

Day gives way to sedated night, a new world created.

Day gives way to sedated night, a new world created.

A longer day created, the new world is broken, no clock.

By night, ticking gives way to silence, sedated.

 


I created the new world, surrounded by nothing, alone.

Like to an echo, cloud-covered, all broken away.

Night is no clock carried by wind over ticking skies.

My name soon gives way to a raindrop.

The people know, yet stare at my tears.

A longer, sedated day clears the same silence.


The author's comments:

This was a difficult poem to write, but it felt so rewarding all the same. This is a paradelle, originally created by the poet Billy Collins. It was created to be a parody of the villanelle (which is another form of poem that I have published here) though I thought it would be a nice experience to try writing a paradelle myself, even if Billy Collins wasn’t taking it seriously when he wrote his own paradelle. It has very specific requirements. The first and second, as well as third and fourth lines of the first three stanzas must all be the same. Then, the fifth and sixth lines of those three stanzas must use all of the words from the first four lines of the stanza, and only those words. The final stanza uses every words from the fifth and sixth lines of all three stanzas before it.


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This article has 3 comments.


on Jul. 26 2022 at 11:20 pm
Egycal52 SILVER, --, California
6 articles 0 photos 112 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Hats off to the past, coats off to the future."
- American Proverb
"Why do you keep hiding behind your mask,
When even the scars formed by your mistakes
are you own constellations?"

The mood is one of the best parts of writing, for sure. Sometimes I start one idea and end up with a totally different idea and mood. Btw, could you give me some feedback on one of my poems if you read them, writer-to-writer?

on Jul. 26 2022 at 3:35 pm
EmilyTheKiwi PLATINUM, Flemington, New Jersey
30 articles 1 photo 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Picture a wave. In the ocean. You can see it, measure it, its height, the way the sunlight refracts when it passes through. And it's there. And you can see it, you know what it is. It's a wave.

And then it crashes in the shore and it's gone. But the water is still there. The wave was just a different way for the water to be, for a little while. You know it's one conception of death for Buddhists: the wave returns to the ocean, where it came from and where it's supposed to be."
-The Good Place

Thank you for your comments Egycal! It was super fun to see the mood of the poem develop as I was writing it. “Know-nothing skies” is also one of my favorite phrases from this poem!

on Jul. 26 2022 at 12:26 pm
Egycal52 SILVER, --, California
6 articles 0 photos 112 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Hats off to the past, coats off to the future."
- American Proverb
"Why do you keep hiding behind your mask,
When even the scars formed by your mistakes
are you own constellations?"

This poem has such a serene but eerie feeling to it ( in a good way!)
I also love the phrase " know-nothing" skies.