Tributaries

Excerpt

Introduction, by Sylvia Adams

The eight people whose work is presented here 'share a love of poetry'. They brought expertise as writers, educators and caregivers to our gatherings. Some already had impressive publishing credentials; others were just beginning to discover the power and possibilities of communicating through poetry. All brought high enthusiasm and an unflagging devotion to the pleasant task of exchanging ideas and articulating them through poetry.

From the moment they met, a symbiotic relationship, of which I was pleased to be a part, began to develop. As we worked our way through the processes of form, style, sound and imagery; adopted points of view and personae; tried out tradition and sought ways to adapt or move away from it; chased inspiration; read and discussed poems by favourite authors; and sought to balance passion and intellect in evocative ways, wonderful poems were born.

Besides free verse and various styles of structured poetry, some modern adaptations of lesser known forms, such as the ghazal and the glosa, appear here. The ghazal, a centuries-old Urdu form, consists of autonomous couplets, each complete in itself in both theme and sensibility. The glosa, a 15th century metric form, begins with a cabeza, a four-line quotation from another poet's work, giving full credit. Four ten-line stanzas follow, each ending with a line from the cabeza, taken consecutively, and with the sixth, ninth and tenth lines rhyming.

The poems printed here celebrate words, their energy and music and the ways in which they shape our lives, wake us up, and help us to reach out to others.

Sylvia Adams
Ottawa, Ontario
April 2001

(from Tributaries, p. 5-6)

Overview

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Chapbook Details

Availability

Most bookstores in the Ottawa area, and from the publisher.

Publisher

ADAR Press
1402-2625 Regina Street
Ottawa, Ontario. K2B 5W8 Canada