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Pattern Poetry at Paper Poetry
Ripple Effect
An Ubuntu etheree
“Ubuntu” is sometimes translated as “I am because we are” (also “I am because you are”), or “humanity towards others” (Zulu umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu). In Xhosa, the latter term is used but is often meant in a more philosophical sense to mean “the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity.
If
Small shapes
Repeated
Make a pattern
Can one small gesture
Of heartfelt compassion
Create a ripple effect
Of indirect repercussions
Creating a more forgiving world
Reminding us “I am because we are”
issued a challenge in his story “The Grand Syllable Disposal System,” for poets to write an etheree. This poetry form consists of 10 lines, with the first line containing one syllable and each subsequent line containing one more syllable.
If you have read my notes about writing poetry, you know I really like counting syllables instead of struggling to rhyme. So when my friend, , after her poem, “Greed”, invited me to respond to Jay’s challenge I was ready to give it a…
