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SEPTENGA [3-2-3-2-3-2-3]
A Septenga is a sequence of seven links, starting with a three-liner, followed by two and finishing with a three-liner. The poem should contain a psychological and/or empathetical theme and can be either written solo or with a partner. The Septenga was created by Alexis K. Rotella and ai li on the 16 February 1997, with grateful thanks to Robert F. Rotella for coining the Septenga name.
Copyright © Alexis K. Rotella and ai li 1997
EXAMPLES :
IN TOWN with ai li and Alexis K. Rotella
SPRING FLOWERS with ai li and Alexis K. Rotella
VALENTINE'S DAY with Alexis K. Rotella and ai li
THE WHORE with ai li and Alexis K. Rotella
A MOTHER by ai li
VOICES by Caroline Gourlay
_______________________________________________
A Septenga between ai li and Alexis K. Rotella
London and Los Gatos, California
6 - 7 February 1997
in town
again
christmas lights
on every corner
the jingle of tin cups
the fat man
in red
knee deep in snow
asleep in the manger
a calico
silent
and bright
evening star
Under Orion
midnight mass
a beggar passing
hears
the hot bath
[Published FROGPOND, December 1996]
Copyright © ai li and Alexis K. Rotella 1997
____________________________________________________________________
A Septenga between ai li and Alexis K. Rotella
London and Los Gatos, California
6 - 7 February 1997
the first daffodils
in a
march wood
everywhere the smell
of yellow
a little girl
with buttercups
shallow grave
chocolate rabbit
minus one ear
not hearing
birdsong
at the interment
Chinese New Year -
a pink slip
mother
sitting by
white chrysanthemums
[Published FROGPOND, Spring 1997]
Copyright © ai li and Alexis K. Rotella 1997
____________________________________________________________________
A Septenga between Alexis K. Rotella and ai li
Los Gatos, California and London
14 - 16 February 1997
Valentine's Day -
off with
his head
the murmur
in a cardiologist's ear
He whispers
as we dance
"I smoke three packs a day."
lips for kissing
a cold sore today
Again
the full moon
a surprise
red roses
on the wrong doorstep
The girl with
a collagened pout
weeping
Copyright © Alexis K. Rotella and ai li 1997
____________________________________________________________________
A Septenga with ai li and Alexis K. Rotella
London and Los Gatos, California
17 - 24 February 1997
the whore
moans
rising rent
stains under the arms
of her green satin dress
she looks up
the address
of a lottery winner
"why," she asks,
"do I always fall for a loser?"
the 23 stone client
demanding
a water bed
ochre
the whites of his eyes
after the call
from her clinic
a razor found
Copyright © ai li and Alexis K. Rotella 1997
____________________________________________________________________
A solo Septenga by ai li
London
20 February 1997
a mother
called miriam
making chopped liver
he comes home
once a year
an old piano
tuned,
fresh lilies
the din
of silence
girls
of marriageable age
bringing chicken soup
he sees the bars
in a bedroom window
cryptic -
the final
note
Copyright © ai li 1997
___________________________________________________________________
A solo Septenga by Caroline Gourlay
Powys, England
1997
unchanging landscape -
slow passage of a day
across the ceiling
a shadow
leans into the room
eyes closing -
louder and louder
the afternoon sun
temperature rising
- falling, rising ...
bee in the medicine glass
drone
of a forage-harvester
on all the silent walls
my mother's paintings
insistent voices
rustling the curtains
summer wind
Copyright © Caroline Gourlay 1999 [Revised March 1999]