14 Comments
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James Hart's avatar

Great, triolet, Nick. A good perspective and I think an appropriate one. The world tends to love its stallions, but there's a cross on the back of donkeys to commemorate their carrying of Christ.

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Nick Chapman-Jones's avatar

Thank you for the compliment James. Yes, there is something special about donkeys, and somehow the cross on their back makes me believe in miracles.

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Claire Adderholt (Craft)'s avatar

really enjoyed this. I've never written a triolet, I need to try it!!

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Nick Chapman-Jones's avatar

Do! It's a great exercise in brevity and focus, I've found.

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Claire Adderholt (Craft)'s avatar

I only started writing haiku recently and am REALLY surprised at how deeply in love with it I fell - so much to pack into a couple lines, and reading haiku e.g. Basho, Li Tu etc has been incredible. So I’m becoming a lot more interested in short forms in general

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Nick Chapman-Jones's avatar

I wrote this post about Tanka which is a slightly extended haiku; I really enjoy utilizing it for refining my focus of longer poems as well. I'll look into the authors you suggested!

https://nickchapmanjones.substack.com/p/bravery-is-pain-cancer-poetry?r=wyorj

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Claire Adderholt (Craft)'s avatar

I read it and enjoyed it, thank you!

and you might like this! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520400739/ref=ox_sc_act_title_32

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Robert Charboneau's avatar

Well done Nick. A fine triolet.

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Nick Chapman-Jones's avatar

Thank you sir.

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mskfb's avatar

When you’re rich and famous, don’t forget me!

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Peter Whisenant's avatar

A lovely piece, earnest and simple. Have you read DH Lawrence's "The Ass"? It's rather raucous and spirited and with some interesting observations about this "humble" animal.

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Nick Chapman-Jones's avatar

Yes! I wasn't quite sure what to make of it to be honest, but it was another I read in my 'research'. I was actually going to write a whole article on donkeys, and I may still at some point, they are fascinating creatures in storytelling.

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J. Tullius's avatar

Nicely done. You’re right, it really can be prayer-like.

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Nick Chapman-Jones's avatar

Thanks for the correction; I had been reading both for research and put in the wrong one!

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