Happy Poetry Friday
I’ve been playing with the Elfchen poem form. The Poetry Sisters selected that poem form as their challenge for this month and will be posting poems next Friday, December 29, 2023. They generously invite us all to join them, so I’ve been experimenting with it. I’ll share a few this week and some more next week, when I will be hosting the Roundup here as we close out the Year!
Elfchen are little poems that are written in 5 lines with a total of eleven words.
1st line– 1 word
2nd line– 2 words
3rd line– 3 words
4th line– 4 words
5th line– 1 word
I learned from Margaret Simon yesterday on her blog post This Photo Wants to be a Poem, that the poem lines each answer a question. I didn’t know about this before yesterday–thanks Margaret, however some of my poems where answering these questions, and some I’m revising. Here are the questions/thoughts for the lines (paraphrased):
1st line: A thought, object, color, smell, or similar
2nd line: What does your word from the first line do?
3rd line: Where or how is the word from line one?
4th line: “What do you mean?”
5th line: “Conclusion: What results from all this? What is the outcome?”
Here are a few of my elfchen poems focusing on the Solstice:
SOLSTICE I
dark
december dally
no longer, begin
lifting hearts, spirits, humanities’
light!
SOLSTICE II
light
begins growth
lengthens each day
tingles our hearts with
hope!
solstice
awaken winter,
welcome sunlight sustainer
mood enhancer, enlightener, efflorescent
energizer
All poems © 2023 Michelle Kogan, drafts
Jone Rush MacCulloch is hosting this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at her blog: Jone Rush MAcCulloch, thanks Jone! She’s sharing a mood-evoking solstice poem and pic, and events of her early morning rise, make sure to stop by!
Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, & Writing 
Michelle, what a sweet post. I loved playing with the elfchen with you here. I missed Margaret’s post yesterday, so I appreciated having the questions to answer as I wrote this one about my daughter,, whose birthday is today:
Katie
VP of
sunshine and hope
sweet solstice-born daughter
Light
I will work on more for next week! Thank you. I loved the lines “tingles our hearts with / hope” So hope found its way into my poem too.
This is wonderful!
Sounds like a fun form to play with–like solving a puzzle. Love how two of your poems go from dark to light and light to hope!
Thanks for the ‘tingling’ in my heart with your solstice elfchen poems, Michelle. 🙂
A perfect pairing of your art and words as usual…the illustration lines are so interesting. It makes me wish I had more time to take some classes. I want to make stuff like that! And, I do love your poem…especially with the wisdom gained from Margaret’s blog. Thank you for mystical movement and action.
I wrote an Elfchen for Cynthia Mackey’s Day 16 solstice prompt in her Advent 24 Poems Challenge.
Sun
Stands still
Glorious long shadows
North Pole is aimed away
Winter
Your elfchens inspire Michelle—and of course the art is such a beautiful complement. They feel like pieces of lace layered together.
Hmmm, I like this form! I will give it a try. Thank you for the explanation and for your wonderful examples! I like how the questions sort of “direct the conversation.”
I started experimenting with the Elfchen also after reading Margaret’s post! Now I want to write more. I love these lines especially:
light
begins growth
lengthens each day
tingles our hearts with
hope!
Thank you, Michelle!
Beautiful, heartfelt post full of solstice celebration, Michelle. I love that last one where you turn the words into adjectives with ‘er’, lovely admiration for the Solstice, then “tingles our hearts” is such a nice thought! Happy Solstice to you! Thanks for the elfchen advice, too!
You’ve made me want to dabble in the Elfchen, Michelle! Inspirational, as always. ❤️
I am fascinated by this form and observations about solstice. I love your illustration.
Michelle, oh to be able to add art work like yours to a poem is a true gift. Your elfchens offer such sweet messages with words like sunlight sustainer and mood enhancer. Have a wonderful Christmas!
I’ve been playing with the elfchen form, too. I love your drawing with your lunar solstice poem. The branches lit up is just right. Looking forward to more next week.
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There is sweet irony in the fact the elfchen poems are even briefer than the their rules of engagement, Michelle. That said, they do possess a charm that often arises from an imposed brevity. You have brought delight to the solstice.