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Poetry Friday: A Tricube for Spring

Last month, in honor of National Poetry Month, my friend Bridget Magee over at Wee Words for Wee Ones wrote a poem a day using photos as her inspiration. Now Bridget has inspired me to use a photo as the inspiration for my poem today. 
(that's a lot of inspiration :-)

We've been waiting all spring for the frogs to emerge from hibernation at the pond, and a little over a week ago, I heard this fellow. It took me a while to find him though. Can you find him too?

A frog with a green stripe on its back sits in a pond. Poem reads: In the pond new grass shoots stand stiffly  held in place by wet toes curled tightly  in the mud. Camouflaged, striped frog croaks. copyright 2021 Elisabeth Norton



I believe this is a pond frog, a species that is common here in Switzerland. Inspired by the frog and a new poetic form I discovered in last week's poetry Friday, my poem this week is a tricube, a mathematical poetic form introduced by Phillip Larrea. The rules are simple:

Each line contains three syllables. 
Each stanza contains three lines.
Each poem contains three stanzas.


The frogs haven't wasted any time since emerging from hibernation. Those tiny black dots with tails in the next photo are tadpoles! I haven't seen tadpoles since I was a kid, so I am endlessly delighted by them.

rocks in a pond with small tadpoles swimming in the water

Unfortunately for the tadpoles, this guy is as excited as I am to see them. 

dark salamander underwater in a pond

This is a pond salamander, and he's the reason most of these little guys won't reach adulthood. Apparently these salamanders live part of the year in the water, going there to breed and to do their part to keep the frog population under control. The rest of the year they are land based and hang out in rocky areas (there is a large rock pile near the pond that I'm guessing is this guy's home when the pond is not full of tadpoles and pollywogs).

It's been fun learning more about this ecosystem. One of the most surprising things I've learned this week is the fact that, while I'm fine looking at salamanders and frogs in nature, seeing photos of amphibians on the computer creeps me out. Who knew? So now that I've learned about these guys and their part in this local ecosystem, I'll stick to watching them in the pond as I eagerly await the metamorphosis of the tadpoles into pollywogs!


Today Bridget is the host of the Poetry Friday roundup. Hop over ;-) to Wee Words for Wee Ones to find links to all the other poets who are participating this week.

 

Comments

  1. Your pictures, poem, and post inspire ME, Elisabeth!
    I love that you gave the tricube form a try. It worked perfectly to captured the 'live action' of the ecosystem. That salamander is like the bad guy in a James 'Pond' movie. (Hee-hee, sorry! I couldn't resist.)

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    1. "James Pond!" Love it! I think you are the punniest person I know ;-)

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    2. Bridget, "James Pond?" Whoa, that's bad. {smile}

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  2. What a wonderful post--and look at you with a tricube! It's delightful and educational. I love a bit of research to go into a poem. I just delights me. Your photos and explanation are delightful. I'm glad you're joining us for Poetry Fridays!

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    Replies
    1. hank you Linda! I'm so glad Bridget introduced me to this corner of the creative world.

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  3. I love hearing frogs and then trying to find them. Wonderful post and tricube. I think I see that striped frog in your photo.

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  4. Your tricube is masterful, and I love the rest of the ecological education you've given us! How fabulous to see a salamander IRL!!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Mary Lee! It was the first time I've ever seen a salamander in the wild. I barely got a photo before he darted into the crevice between the rocks to hide.

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  5. Fun tricube Elisabeth, and I love all your pics too, thanks!

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  6. Elisabeth, I like the tricube, and I appreciate the science lesson that goes with it! Your final comments brought a bit of a smile to my face, as just the other day I felt a bit squeamish looking at a picture of some worms on the computer screen. Like you, I have no problems with that in real life, but that experience was difficult. Strange. Thanks for sharing this with us!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, Tim! Glad to know I'm not alone with this strange reaction.

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  7. Wow, looks like I've really started something with tricubes, ha! Glad you tried out the form, Elisabeth - and what a great job! I love the wordplay and imagery you packed into this.

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  8. Very interesting about the pond salamander! So easy for us to miss things when we aren't sure about what we're looking for. Ecosystems, hibernation, camouflage -- all fascinating topics (that make good topics for poetry!).

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  9. Who knew that mathematics and science could be transformed into such lovely poetry!

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  10. Elisabeth,I loved your science focus with your tricube. This would make a wonderful science lesson on ecosystems for students.

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