That Dragon T-Shirt - a quatern, and The Wedding Dress - a tritina from Judi Korpi Webb #NationalPoetryMonth

Today, Judi Korpi Webb and I have teamed up yet again to share our poems inspired by Allison Joseph's prompt. Her prompt today about "a garment that is more than just a garment" tugged at our fabric in unique and yet somehow similar ways. I chose to write a quatern.* My husband read it and told me between chuckles that I'm "super depressing." I take that as a compliment. That must mean I nailed it!

That dragon t-shirt adorning its original owner

That Dragon T-Shirt

That dragon t-shirt full of holes
stained brown, threadbare, stays in her drawer

As featured in the latest school picture.

until school picture day comes 'round.
She shimmies into it each year.

From third grade on she's worn that shirt,
that dragon t-shirt full of holes.
The plastic decal snake with wings
ties her to her first love—Tolkien.

Her brother owned it once as well.
He wore it when they made s'mores.
That dragon t-shirt full of holes
no longer fits. He passed it on.

She guards that garment with her life
like Smaug atop his pile of gold.
An amulet to combat change,
that dragon t-shirt full of holes.

-Amy Baskin


Judi wrote this staggeringly beautiful tritina,** and gave me photos to back it up. Thank you so much for sharing this with us here, Judi!

The Wedding Dress

The wedding dress was pink to expose her shame

Accompanied by a child, her first

Making a new family, she blushed with pride

Delicate pink tulle and lace, the square collar revealed her pride

In nineteen-fifty-eight, customs announced a woman’s shame.

Tea length, three-quarter sleeves, as a choice, this dress was my first.

I’ll never know if she felt shy or disgraced at first

In photos I recognize her strength and am filled with pride

To love and create a family should never be coated in shame

Celebs now wear pink with pride, not shame, but Donna Dillon wore it first.

-Judi Korpi Webb

Donna Dillon in her pink wedding dress

Judi rocking Donna's pink at her own wedding.

*A quatern is a french form with a refrain. 16 lines of 4 quatrains. Each line is 8 syllables. The first line serves as the refrain and migrates to the second line in the second quatrain, the third in the third, and the fourth and last line in the fourth. There are no particular rules for rhyme or meter. Play with it!

**A tritina is composed of three tercets that end on the same three rotating words and a final line that contains all three end words in any order and acts like a coda. I wrote one about skirts and the fickle passage of time earlier this month.

P.S. Try one on for yourself. If you write a quatern, a triolet, or a poem based on Allison Joseph's prompts, please share it by posting it in the comments. I'd love to read it. Thanks!