Senate (Tritina)
Not imposition, but welcome. The way
cooperation welcomes coercion, turning the
tenor of the intended phrase, opening
the statement to interpretation, opening
a point without dissension, in the way
of politics, agreeing which fact will shape the
morning, which truth will determine the
next word and the subsequent, as if opening
the issue, claiming to have found the way,
one way, the only, but never actually opening.
* * *
A Tritina might best be described as the lazy poet’s Sestina, consisting of ten rather than 39 lines, with the end words of the first stanza repeating in a specific pattern in the subsequent two stanzas. The last line includes all three end words.
The patterns:
abc
cab
bca
The last line uses the end words in sequence following the pattern of the first stanza.
O at the Edges 
Really enjoyed this! Cheers.
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Thanks, Anthony. It seemed appropriate. 🙂
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I love it when you explain the formula for your poetry. I have not studied it in years and it is so informative. And this poem is wonderful and accurate.
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Thanks, Sidra. I enjoy working with and sharing forms.
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LOvE it. Thankyou.
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So pleased you like it. Thank you.
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Reblogged this on Praying for Eyebrowz and commented:
Brilliant piece by Robert Okaji.
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Thanks, Leslie. Ah, politics!
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I love the poem. The demolition derby pic doesn’t quite fit. The oddity of US politics is that it’s not the people in the arena who get wrecked, it’s the people watching.
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But we, the people, vote in the wreckers. Or at least some of us do.
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For a second there, I thought you were going to write that the pattern is ABACAB. Ha! Anyway, so brilliant, Bob: word choice is spot-on (as ever), with truth and fact making appearances with new import. It is a demolition derby, indeed (right now; but I guess just about every generation thinks that, to some degree, at some time). Great work!
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It appears to be a demolition derby with no goal but destruction in sight.
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Personally I find the demo derby photo terribly apt; I subscribe to the “MegaVote” newsletter and it is so disheartening to read — every single time now — each vote that says “Passed” while my esteemed representatives in the minority voted “No” (or “Rejected” when they voted “Yes”). I can feel their bruises. I should send them this poem.
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It has been disheartening lately, hasn’t it? Sigh.
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Indeed. The (repetitive) way of politics, it would seem, is the very definition of insanity — except that the madness constitutes deliberate method on the part of those whose means and desired ends are one in the same.
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If only it weren’t so.
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How timely. Also I would not have recognized the form had you not pointed it out — so much skill required to make it seem so effortless! And it suits the subject matter
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Thanks, C. I’d thought about attempting a sestina, but this came out instead. 😬
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Only now I heard of Tritina 🙂 Might try it soon 😀
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It’s an interesting form. I’m not generally fond of word repetition within a short piece, so it took some patience.
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Reblogged this on Dissident Murmurs.
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Thanks for reblogging.
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Yes, that One Way never does have an opening (or a way out) (K)
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It always seems to be a trap.
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Thanks for the info on tritina. Someone ought to do a poem with ABRACADABRA 🙂
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That might get the job done!
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