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Sunday Scribblings #38: Another Year Older and Wiser(?)

July 5, 2020

So this week I became another year older and wiser(not so sure about that, but hope am getting there at least). And definitely more grateful. I think I still enjoy celebrating my birthday! While I initially thought I will write some profound thoughts about growing older and wiser and being more grateful, I also found myself looking at some quotes about growing older that I found delightful and profound. So here are some of those quotes for you:

  • “I am old enough to see how little I have done in so much time, and how much I have to do in so little.” – Sheila Kaye-Smith
  • “Age does not diminish the extreme disappointment of having a scoop of ice cream fall from the cone.” – Jim Fiebig
  • “Age is a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.” —Satchel Paige, baseball player
  • And I loved reading Maya Angelou’s poem titled On Aging

Sandra Cisneros says in her short story ‘Eleven’, “the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one.” And isn’t that so true? So, I am also still 5, 10, 16, 21, or all or any of those ages I have already been. And there are days I behave that way too! Ask my kids, they will vouch for that:)

sunday scribblings

Poetic Sundays

The Forms so Far

The Lục Bát

As I continue my attempt to introduce poetic forms from around the world, this week, I bring you the Lục bát from beautiful Vietnam.

What is the Lục Bát?

The Lục bát is one of many climbing rhymes from around the world. The words Lục bát tranlate to six-eight, referring to the syllabic count. Vietnamese is a tonal language, and its poetic forms also emphasize tone and how it should be used. The Lục bát is no different, and since attemptimg that aspect in English is difficult, poets writing in English tend to focus on what we can copy – syllabic count and rhyme scheme.

So the Lục bát’s characteristics:

  • Syllabic: 6 syllable lines alternate with 8 syllable lines; no set number of lines so the poem can be as short or long as you want it (from a couplet to say 13 lines or as long as 3254 lines, which is how long The Tale of Kieu is)
  • Interesting internal climbing rhyme scheme as shown below. In this form, the end of the eight-syllable line rhymes with the sixth syllable of the following two lines (the six-syllable line and the sixth syllable of the next eight-syllable line) . See below:

xxxxxA
xxxxxAxB
xxxxxB
xxxxxBxC
xxxxxC
xxxxxCxD
xxxxxD
xxxxxDxE

  • I also read about a less common rhyme scheme where you notice a climbing structure even more clearly; here the end of the eight-syllable line rhymes with the end of the following six-syllable line and the fourth syllable of the following eight-syllable line.

xxxxxA
xxxAxxxB
xxxxxB
xxxBxxxC
xxxxxC
xxxCxxxD
xxxxxD
xxxDxxxE…. and so on..

  • You could always choose to wrap up the poem neatly by ending the last line of the poem with the same ending rhyme as the first line, or not! Or choose to end with a six-syllable or an eight-syllable line. Maybe you could break your poem up into stanzas (while following the rhyme scheme) or write one long poem. The options are endless and left to you.

A related poetic form is the Song thất lục bát with a syllabic count of 7-7-6-8 (and the words literally mean double seven six eight).

h/t: Where I’m From and Vole Central among others

My Example Luc Bat

I tried, really did.. first with this barely started attempt below:

Growing old is easy
All you do is simply be true
Each day be true to you

Then realized it was hard.. so came up with this:

Thought it would be easy
Really be breezy and cool
Soon thought this was a fool’s
errand, liquid words pooled, bubbling
Over, each screaming
“Me, me” and demanding their place
In my short poem’s space.
I found my eyes were glazed over,
“Luc bat, see ya later.“
-Vidya Tiru (LadyInRead)

And asked my son if he could try his hand at this. He impressed me with what he came up with:

Keys gently caressed, pressed
Black and white and distressed, they stay
Forcing them down, they play
Touched by the player they touch those
Familiar with their prose
Sing of one’s joy and woes, they tell
Diction-less tales, a cell
A black and white keyed yell, silence
-Author – my son !! (Proud mom Vidya Tiru)

I know they all need titles and I will add them soon. If you can think of something, do let me know!

On My Blog and Home-front

I celebrated my birthday on the 2nd; another year marked off and another year begun! My teen baked a totally yummy cake for me – pictured below!!

And here is a slice for you:-)

Otherwise, we have been taking it easy at home, and spending time in our garden for a bit. I am loving the roses that continue to bloom and cheer us everyday; and love that the zucchini and eggplant flower so so beautifully!

My Most Recent Posts

My post from last week:

Elsewhere

Here are a couple of posts I picked among the many I enjoy reading each week (I keep forgetting to bookmark the posts that I mean to highlight):

  • Gayatri talks about How to Finish What You Started and I think I have done this a few times already – so I guess I am a serial starter!
  • I always enjoy reading about Lia’s adventures and I am sure you will too. Read what she has been up to with ggrandma here.

MyPhotoADay

Here are a few selections from my insta-feed this past week.

Sometimes you learn something from your detours…

Upcoming

On My Blog and Home-front

Since I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge, I will be posting everyday (though looks like I need to somehow manage to make it earlier in the day!) I hope to have my favorite guest posters back this week again (my teens).

Am hoping that the flowering zucchini and eggplant move on to the next level soon!

This Week’s Celebrations

So while I might have mentioned this earlier, I thought I will repeat it here again today. Most of these below are taken from the National Day Calendar and refer to various National Day celebrations here in the US of A. But this does not mean others cannot celebrate it. The more, the merrier, always! And I also include a few international/world celebrations as well. I only pick the ones that most appeal to me 🙂

  • Let me start off with those delish celebrations. First off, I know I will enjoy National Strawberry Sundae Day on July 7, National Chocolate with Almonds Day on the 8th, followed by National Sugar Cookie Day on the 9th (I think I know what I will virtually make for my brother’s birthday now!) and ending with National Blueberry Muffin Day on the 11th. Well actually with National Pecan Pie Day on the 12th (and I am almost positive that this is my favorite type of pie)
  • I am going to use this to inspire the dad-daughter pair in my fam to take a walk together on July 7th, which is National Father Daughter Take a Walk Day!
  • I know I will be celebrating National Clerihew Day on the 10th of July. The Clerihew is a fun poetic form to read, and to attempt to write as well. Here is one of my earlier attempts
  • And this is much needed not just on July 11, but everyday; National Cheer Up the Lonely Day. Take a moment to call someone who is alone, drop off a care package for someone else, or have a socially distanced chat in person – maybe outside – with that neighbor you know lives by himself or herself.
  • Taking stock of the excesses in our lives – the things and the feelings we don’t need – is something that I have ended up doing, well, because I needed to and because I definitely had the time for it! And that makes National Simplicity Day on the 12th an appealing thing (for more often than just that day too). It should simply be how we live life, don’t you think so?
  • And I had forgotten to mention that July is National Picnic Month (not too surprising because of the weather, and currently perfect for families to get out together by themselves) as well as National Ice Cream Month (of course!)
  • July is also World Watercolor Month; and Charlie Shields (Creator of Doodlewash) came up with this in 2016. You can check out the website for month long events and prompts

Wrapping up my Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, this was it for my Sunday Scribblings. I would love to hear your comments on my post(s). And which of these days do you plan to celebrate (or any other)? 

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon.

Linking up to the Ultimate Blog Challenge and feel free to join in so you can interact with other bloggers and challenge yourself to post everyday this month.

For previous posts, click on the links below:

Day_1 Day_2 Day_3 Day_4

ultimate blog challenge

12 thoughts on “Sunday Scribblings #38: Another Year Older and Wiser(?)”

  1. Happy birthday! Thank you for posting that poem by Maya Angelou. I’m going to print that one out for my birthday. I turn 50 next year. 😊 National Blueberry Muffin Day and Pecan Pie day – both my favorites – makes for a great week.

    Also love this idea of sharing all kinds of random thoughts and reflections on Sundays. I may try that myself. Do you find it less stressful to write about everything instead of one specific thing? Just curious…

  2. Happy birthday! What a beautiful cake!

    The Luc bat is one of those poetic forms that sounds like anyone could do it, and anyone can probably come up with something that meets the criteria. But to come up with something that is strong is harder. Your son’s poem is strong, I think. How much you must be enjoying sharing these forms during this odd time in our lives.

    Seeing that beautiful house on a detour you took gives me a bit of hope. We are all on a detour right now, I think. I shall keep my eyes open today for those beautiful houses that are probably all around me right now. I shall stop trying to get back on the main route and enjoy where I am.

  9. Belated birthday wishes and that is a lovely cake. I love how you pick up different things to talk about on the blog like poetry, A to Z challenges. Love it.

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