Grace Burns has given us lovely poetry about family life (The Exercise Class, First Impressions). She spoke on 15 Minutes of Poetry about her writing, her motivation, her process, her split life as a writer and an engineer. Here she gives us a study in precision with a triple ladder cinquain (the ladder cinquain made famous by Adelaide Crapsey of course). In much the same way a mother might give weight to equivalence among children, Grace gives each stanza the same syllabic count, but she uses different words to give each precisely the meaning it requires.
The Lives of Sister and Brother
By Grace Burns
Sister
a magician
transforming all whom she
meets into her very best friends.
Ta da!
Brother
shy and alone
reads his books and waits for
someone to call him, to give him
friendship.
Mother
wonders how she
has spawned this polar pair
and strives to love them both for who
they are.
This is wonderful.
Lovely, Grace!
Very nice portrait, Grace. Well done.
cute and very clever on moms part.