Today I have the special honor of welcoming guest writer, Sweet Bug, to my blog. Yep, on this day we honor Martin Luther King, Jr., it’s a privilege to share her tribute to Dr. King, which comes in the form of a lovely cinquain.
King
brave, courageous
leading, caring, changing
inspiring others to dream on
hero
Now, it’s your turn! See if you can write a 5-line tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. and leave it in the comment box below for all to enjoy. Don’t worry if you feel woefully inept at poetry. So do I, but I still found this to be a fun way to celebrate MLK, a man who made a profound impact on our world. And of course, it’s more the thought that counts–even if you don’t have the right number of syllables!
A cinquain – which, by the way, is pronounced “sin-cane,” not “sin-kwane” – is a form of poetry that was created by American poet Adelaide Crapsey about 100 years ago, and is similar to Japanese poetic forms, such as haiku and tanka.
Though cinquains are just five lines long, the best ones tell a small story. Instead of just having descriptive words, they may also have an action (something happening), a feeling caused by the action, and a conclusion or ending.
The first and last lines have just two syllables, while the middle lines have more, so they end up with a diamond-like shape, similar to the poetic form called the diamante.
THE RULES OF A CINQUAIN
- Cinquains are five lines long.
- They have 2 syllables in the first line 4 in the second, 6 in the third, 8 in the fourth line, and just 2 in the last line.
- Cinquains do not need to rhyme, but you can include rhymes if you want to.Source: Poetry4kids.com
You have a poet on your hands, Becky!
Please tell Sweet Bug how very much I enjoyed her poem. It’s lovely, and says so much. And further — it’s inspired this great internet discussion. Bravo Becky and Sweet Bug!
One might
Look away, not
at the Face of change for
Fear of what we might do ourselves.
Look. See.
Fear tears
open the wound
and buries the Courage
until someone steps up to bat
and scores
A man
did just that, he
stepped up, he scored, he gave
his heart, his life, his dream, so we
breathe free
Our job
is to keep that
dream alive, hope alive
courage alive so that All may
breathe free
And his
Dream will live on
changing and saving and
Martin Luther King, Jr., we
thank you
Hi Becky,
Just checking in — you’ve been on radio silence! Hope everything’s going well and that you are happily busy.
Melissa
Melissa…so much to share…so few hours in the day! I just put up a new blog post with an explanation of what I’ve been up to, but for some reason it didn’t send it out to my subscribers. Argh. Perhaps my blog gave up on me, thinking I’d thrown in the towel.
Here’s a link to the new post in case you get this message from me and you’re interested:
http://animprobablelife.com/2014/04/14/off-and-running-something-new-to-share/
Thanks for checking in on me! By the way, I just noticed that my reply comment to your Martin Luther King cinquain never got posted. My blog gremlins are working overtime these days! I was blown away by your poem! Absolutely stunning!
This is the best I can come up with. Good exercise, Becky!
Nation
Wounds of bitter hate
Led him to the valley
In search of a better world for
children
This one’s for you, Sweet Bug –
A girl
inspired by a
great man’s dreams is a girl
destined to fill some great dreams of
her own
Wow, this is special! I can’t wait for her to come home from school today to read it! Thanks, Deborah!
I was so impacted by Dr. King’s life so I will try a Cinquain as a tribute to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Beautiful job, Sweet Bug!
young girl
cried openly
Martin taught me to love
everyone and bring peace to
our world.
LOVE this, Elizabeth! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and creativity!
What a lovely poem, Sweet Bug! And a lovely way to honor Martin Luther King Jr. I have never heard of a cinquain, so this post has been extra informative for me. I will try something:
King was
A humble man
Who saw the potential
For people to love. Thank you, God
For King.
Not very poetic, but I’ll have to practice!
This is fantastic, Tina! I really enjoyed it and appreciate you giving it a shot. It takes courage to put it out there. Now I must step up to the plate too!
I have to admit that as I’m not a poet in any way, shape or form, this assignment made me immediately anxious. Therefore, I think I’ll pass. Why is it so easy for children to write so easily and freely? Maybe it’s because they’re not yet concerned about what others think of them. Aside from my lack of poetic talent, it’s a great way to honor such a wonderful man on this very special day. Maybe I’ll come back later and post something if I get inspired.
I do hope you come back later to post your cinquain. You are so talented with words, I’m sure something will percolate and bubble up to the top.