General Poetry posted August 13, 2013 Chapters:  ...72 73 -74- 75... 


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A Minute Poem with closing Tercet & Exclamation (Read Notes)

A chapter in the book Little Poems

Mullein Musings

by Treischel

Mullein Musings
(Minute Poem with closing Tercet and Exclamation)





A searching damselfly came by
Gave plant the eye
Flew right to it
A 'Lil Bluet

The Flower Common Mullein
Its blooms began
Attracted fly
The hue of Sky

This wildflower's flannel-like leaf
Gave foot relief
First settlers choose
To use in shoes



Did torches get lit when stalks dry?
Or ladies rub blush with a sigh?
'Twas surely not the Damselfly!

Oh My!







This poem will be another of my wildflower series.

This large green wildflower, that almost looks like a corn stalk, is actually a Common Mullein. You think its a mundane plant, but actually, it is quite interesting. This wildflower (Verabscum Thapsus) is also known as the Flannel Plant. In its first year of maturity, it grows low to the ground in a spread of large fuzzy leaves that look like rabbit ears. Thus the name, Flannel Plant. In the second year, it grows into a large stalk as shown here. Early American settlers used to stuff the fluffy leaves into their shoes for padding and insulation. The Ancient Romans used to dip the dried stalks in animal grease and use the slow burn for torches. During the Middle Ages, ladies would rub the leaves on their cheeks, where the skin irritation would give them a blush for a few days. Then of course, when it flowers, as this one is just starting to do, it attracts bees and other insects such as dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies. So, you see, it is quite interesting.
The damselfly shown is known as a Common Bluet (Enallagma Civlle). They have lovely shades of turquoise blue and black. I caught this one in flight.

This poem is a Minute Poem that I closed with a 3 line tercet and final exclamation, just to give it some more color.
The Minute Poem is a poem that follows the "8,4,4,4" syllable count structure. It usually has 3 stanzas that are exactly the same.
So: 8,4,4,4; 8,4,4,4; 8,4,4,4 syllables. The tercet was also 8 syllables, Exclamation 2 syllables.

A traditional Minute Poem has 12 lines total. It has 60 syllables. It is written in a strict iambic meter. The rhyme scheme is as follows: aabb, ccdd, eeff.
The tercet was Mono-rhymed as: aaa
Exclamation:a
So this total poem's rhyme scheme was: aabb ccdd eeff aaa a.

This photograph was taken by the author himself in August, 2013 at Battle Creek Park in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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