Poetry Series
A Loving Farewell to ‘Fika’ and Welcoming ‘Elysian’
Come, enjoy one more beautiful series with us!
Dear Paper Poetry Patrons, Hello, Bonjour, Olá, Salaam, Hola, Nǐn hǎo, Konnichiwa, Guten Tag, Namastay, LOVE.
Hope you all are enjoying the weekly prompts at Paper Poetry. If by chance you have missed any, there is a reason to be happy as we are conducting a rerun of all the prompts from week-1 through week-14. Thanks to Carolyn for gifting us a Déjà Vu moment.
Please give me a nod if you missed the Poetry Series over the last two months. If you did, I sincerely apologize as I moved from the US to Canada in April and was still settling in.
I can’t thank enough my wonderful co-editor Carolyn Hastings and Paper Poetry owner Suntonu Bhadra for providing me with all the support during my transition.
Let’s just recap what Poetry Series is all about.
The Poetry Series is a Paper Poetry project wherein we invite a contributing poet to write theme-based poems in a series over one month. These themes are from any and every corner of the world.
Poetry Series is a platform to —
- Explore a theme in depth while showcasing your work.
- Claim a special spot in Paper Poetry publication.
- Have mention in the newsletter with your photograph.
- Enjoy increased visibility.
- Receive an e-certificate from Paper Poetry to use for your branding and endeavors.
- Cherish an experience of a lifetime; trust me, the journey of carving a series on a theme will be worth your time, effort, and a loving legacy.
So now that I am back to Poetry Series, my first and foremost duty is to give William J Spirdione the long-due credit and applause for beautifully writing the Fika series for us. William, we have not forgotten you, a wonderful wordsmith like you can never be forgotten. You honored us by crafting a wonderful series. We wholeheartedly thank you for your poems, love, and patience. 🙏
Fika — Poetry Series #7
William J Spirdione, a top writer in poetry, graced poetry series #7 with the theme, fika. William writes sonnets and more about nature and the humans within it. He chose to write four sonnets in a series on fika — a Swedish origin word, meaning a moment to slow down and appreciate good things in life.
In his first sonnet Lifetime of Fika One at a Time, the narrator tells the story of how he and his two mates, Mark and Jim, slow down, take a break from shoveling driveways and enjoy creme de menthe and maple scones.
In Lifetime of Fika Have Another One, the narrator appreciates that Mark and Jim, working on a construction site are not deterred by their grumpy boss and go ahead for a fika moment. After a hard day of work they enjoy each other’s company sitting on camping chairs outside an old mill’s sidewalk relishing pastries.
The friends continue to bond over fika moments in A Lifetime Of Fika Time To Enjoy enjoying their lifelong precious friendship. This part of the story sees Jim’s wife and little children, perhaps, they will not let the lifetime fika flicker by so soon!
In his concluding sonnet, Lifetime Of Fika Pass The Torch, William J Spirdione gives us a million dollar wisdom with his words,
“Most of us just go on with our lives so while we’re here let’s try to make amends and step inside this place where fika thrives.”
William’s storytelling via sonnets impels readers to enjoy little moments in life, the humdrum of life will never stop, neither will the work end. But only if you relish fika, the lightened up moments will make life worth living.
William J Spirdione’s craft on fika is showcased below and will forever grace Poetry Series homepage.
William, we thank you tons and you are highly regarded at Paper Poetry.
Below is William’s certificate of merit.
Upcoming Poetry Series: ‘Elysian’
Drumrolls please, we are super excited to present another poetic jewel for you. He is a writer, musician, carpenter, inventor, entrepreneur and the list goes on. He owns ten guitars and banjoes and has a dozen or so U.S. and international patents that are either issued or pending. Wow, a polymath in the truest sense!
And when one more feather, of poetry writing adorns his already decorated hat, that makes Jim Dutton. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome our upcoming Poetry Series writer Jim Dutton 👏👏👏
Jim agreed to write for Poetry Series on the theme, Elysian, a Greek word meaning beautiful or creative; divinely inspired; peaceful and perfect.
The poetry form he has chosen for this series is galleggiante. He explains this as —
It is a poetry form with four 4-line stanzas using an abab rhyming scheme. The word galleggiante means “floating” in Italian.
He wrote his first poem in the Elysian series while journeying down the Rhine and Danube rivers to the Northern edge of the ancient Greek empire. We can just wonder if the Elysian plains inspired him to write about Alexander the Great who was born in the idyllic walled city of Pella in Macedon.
To indulge your senses in the perfect, peaceful place called the Elysian Plains, or Elysium, please click here.
Welcome Jim, we cannot wait to take off on this joyful journey along the Elysian Plains with you. This creative journey sure looks promising with you holding the reigns.
From The Archives
So far, we have had seven themes explored, and we are enchanted with the vivacity and verve our writers who have epitomized eloquence words in the fabric of Poetry Series themes.
They are adorning Paper Poetry’s Hall of Fame.
Their craft is permanently on display on the Paper Series tab on the Paper Poetry homepage.
For a glance, the themes explored so far are:
- Ubuntu: South African proverb for ‘I am because we are’ ~ James
- Mizpah: Hebrew for a deep emotional bond between people separated by distance or death. ~Penofgold
- WabiSabi: Japanese for beauty in imperfection.~Chloe
- Daou: Arabic for light & illumination. ~Jenine
5. Alpas: Filipino, meaning to break free ~ Viraji
6. Tacenda: Spanish, things better left unsaid ~ Margie
7. Fika: Swedish, meaning taking a moment to slow down and appreciate good things in life. ~ William
We invite you to become our next poetry series writer
If interested in gracing our hall of fame, please feel free to:
- Write an email to [email protected] with the subject line “Poetry Series writer request” OR
- Drop a private note to this story with your email to connect OR
- Mention it in the response below.
We will reach out to you. Our word!
Thank you! Rise and Shine. 🌞 Indubala
© All Rights Reserved 2022 Indubala Kachhawa
