Jean and I were in Falmouth, Cornwall for a few days. We were shown to a table for four in a restaurant and asked if we would mind sharing it, if required. We replied ‘No, we did not mind’. Part way through the first course a stranger, subsequently identifying himself as George Woodward, sat down. At the end of a loquacious meal, three friends made their farewells.
The two poems below were written to show him that poetry need not rhyme: the first is a Haiku, which was then extended to a Tanka.
Serendipity
Chance table seating
can stimulate appetite
for proffered morsels.
George Woodward sat down.
Chance table seating
can stimulate appetite
for proffered morsels
of a seated stranger’s life
savouring favoured moments.
George Woodward claimed never to have written poetry before, but he looked at the Cinquain information in ‘Forms of Poetry’, elsewhere on this website, and then e-mailed me a few days later:
Dartmoor
Deep down
in Wistman’s Wood
misty moss encrusted
stumble boulders and ancient oaks
sun shafts
George has stated that he intends including verse in his daily note taking, I sincerely hope he does.