Sunday, April 12, 2015

My Hope, My Freedom - Tritina Poem


April is National Poetry Month, and I am celebrating with many other bloggers by writing and sharing poetry.  Please check out the hashtag #digipoetry on Twitter to find more poems written by  writers in our blogging community.  Please consider joining us.  Write when you can, share when you write.  It is that simple.

Today I have played with writing a Tritina, which is a ten-lined poem divided into three tercets and a single line.  The pattern looks like this:

A/B/C 
C/A/B 
B/C/A

A,B,C 


My students are reading biographies and writing literary essays on perseverance.  I have several students who are reading about Harriet Tubman, and my conversations with them led to the subject of this poem.



My Hope, My Freedom

I have been told I am nothing but a slave
with nothing to call my own, not even my freedom.
I dream under the stars at night and I hope,

because without hope
I can only be a Negro bought and sold as a slave.
But I am one who believes that freedom

is not beyond my grasp.  I desire freedom
so that my faith in man can be restored.  I hope
that none of my people will no longer be a slave.

I was born a slave, but freedom is what I hope for.



4 comments:

  1. Hi Leigh Anne. Your poem is beautiful. You've taken the subject & turned it into such a strong voice for Harriet Tubman. Good for you!

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  2. Wow! I've never seen this form. I'm imagining how I would approach such a task. It's like a mantra. What a great example for your students.

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  3. Michele Hendrick Barnes wrote about Amelia Earhart. Is there something in the air? Strong women writing about strong women? http://michellehbarnes.blogspot.com/2015/04/dmc-lady-lindy-by-m-h-barnes.html
    I am reading Sugar and your poem speaks not only of the slave struggle but the lingering struggle of race equality.

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  4. I'm glad you found something valuable from the VU capstone "night of the moms."
    You are brave. Thanks for sharing.
    Donna

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