I started the year with many writing goals in mind, one of them being – one poem a week. While I have been close to or fulfilling many of the goals so far (for a change), the poem a week fell off the mark a while ago. On the other hand, I am taking a writing course currently, where I am writing short stories and more every week.
But I decided I could just add this little section to my Sunday Scribblings (whenever possible) to introduce a form I found that week.
Poetic Sundays
But I did find a few interesting poetic forms, when I attempted to look at some forms to celebrate Black History Month. The ones I wanted to try were – the Bop, the Kwansaba, and the Eintou. I figured I would start with the Eintou today, and work on the others later.
So here is the Eintou for you
Eintou
What is the Eintou poetic form and how to write it?
A distinctively African-American septet poetic form that developed as a means of placing African American poetic forms in the forefront of American poetry.
The term Eintou is West African for ‘pearl’ as in ‘pearls of wisdom’ and also a reference to the cyclical/circular structure of the poem. The Eintou begins with two syllables, then grows to eight syllables and finally returns to two syllables. Thus, it does not escape its beginnings or its history.
The Eintou reflects an aspect of African and African American philosophy that life is a cycle, and everything returns to that from which it originates.
So the Eintou’s features are
- syllabic – the poem is made up of 32 syllables in total
- cyclical structure of 2-4-6-8-6-4-2 representing a beginning, then growth, and
- it shares knowledge – used to offer insight and challenge the way we see the world.
h/t and additional reading
My Example Eintou
While embodying the true spirit and voice needed for poetic forms such as this one is (near) impossible, I tried the best I could to maintain some of it – offering a pearl of wisdom, and trying to end where I began.
The Best Medicine
Laughter,
my little ones
can always be relied
upon, to heal body and soul;
so don’t forget, my loves,
to make time for
laughter.
– Vidya Tiru (aka LadyInRead)
Last Week
On My Blog
A good enough week, and the poem I had planned to is earlier in this post.
- Picture Book Review: Flash and Gleam
- Book Review: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
- The Thing’s the Play
- Top Ten Books That Gave Me a Book Hangover
- Book Review: Dictionary for a Better World
Elsewhere
I learned about the 11 skipped days in 1752 (thanks to Roy Ackerman) bringing forth a new calendar, and loads of confusion to historians and genealogists and the like for the forever future, I guess:) You can read more about it across the internet, including here and here.
I also missed a couple of interesting celebrations this last week that I will add for coming years. International Mother Language Day is one of them. Quick facts below:
- It is celebrated annually on February 21st.
- This celebration was approved at the 1999 UNESCO General Conference and has been observed throughout the world since 2000. It is to recognize and promote the amazing linguistic diversity of our world, while celebrating our mother languages.
- The NationalDayCalendar page for this day offers many ideas for how to celebrate it (anyday)!
- Last year, 2019, was marked by the UN as The Year of Indigenous Languages.
My PhotoaDay
Here are a few from last week. Again, this challenge has ensured I take a photo (at least one) everyday but that is not the one I necessarily post on instagram – those are older ones that fit any one of the many daily photo themes to use.
Upcoming
On My Blog
Book review and other posts
- Picture Book Reviews
- Short Story Review: A short story (or two) for Deal Me In
- Book Reviews: I have a couple of books in mind for this week.
- Non-review post: Hoping to get one non-review post, still bookish maybe, this week
- And then that poetry post….(maybe)
Elsewhere
A few of the many upcoming inter/national celebrations that I know I will enjoy
- National Tell a Fairy Tale Day – celebrated Feb 26 annually. Celebrate those happily ever after, and those dark side of the fairy tales too! As for me, I celebrate telling tales everyday. #TellAFairyTaleDay
- National Retro Day – celebrated Feb 27 annually (well, just in the past two years, as the first celebration was in 2018). Allows us older generations to ‘remember when…’ and indulge our love of those good ole’ days before hashtags! #NationalRetroDay
- World NGO Day – celebrated Feb 27 annually. This recognizes the importance of NGOs in today’s world, and provides a platform for NGOs everywhere to celebrate their achievements. So go ahead and support an NGO. #WorldNGODay (Fact: The term “non-governmental organization” was created in Article 71 of the Charter of the newly formed United Nations in 1945. )
- And then there are also the National Chocolate Covered Nut Day on the 25th of February and National Chocolate Souffle Day on Feb 28th (Glad it is not for the 29th of February for either of these, but then again, I don’t, and I am guessing, neither do you, wait for these dates to enjoy some chocolate in these forms!)
Wrapping up My Sunday Scribblings
Today’s post brings to mind a host of questions I have for you, my dear readers:)
- What is your mother tongue? How many languages do you speak/read/write? If you would be able to (or you are already), what is the language you would love to learn?
- Do you have a favorite fairy tale from childhood or one that you love to read aloud to a loved one?
- If you had to pick a retro year, look, or item from years past, what would it be?
- Do you have any other comments about today’s post? Do let me know.. I would love to hear any and all of the things you have to say.
Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon.
I’m fascinated to hear about this new-to-me poetry form, the eintou. I’m writing down the information about it right now. It would be a fun poem to try this week in my writings.
I always love seeing your photo-a-day. I did a challenge like that many years ago, and I did well until about fifty days in, at which point I froze and never posted another photo. I should have skipped that day, and then pushed on.
Have a lovely week.
What a lovely eintou! I have tried doing a photo a day a few times in the past, but faded before long each time. I guess it must not be as important to me as I thought 😉 Have a great week!
thanks for the comments on my eintou! and i have failed many a time on such daily challenges too – this is the first time i have lasted this long into the year 🙂 but it has been fun so far so maybe will continue for longer