In my last post about the cinquain, I neglected to say that the cinquain was invented right here in Rochester, NY by Adelaide Crapsey, the daughter of an Episcopal priest who was defrocked because of heresy. Crapsey was born in Brooklyn in 1878 but was raised in Rochester. She attended Vassar and was the class poet, but her life was not a long one. She was diagnosed with TB in 1911 and died in Rochester in 1914 despite seeking treatment in Saranac Lake. Probably because of her extended illness, many of her poems have dark themes, death and dying. But here’s one appropriate for today.

Snow

Look up…
From bleakening hills
Blows down the light, first breath
Of wintry wind…look up, and scent
The snow!

This next one is my favorite.

The Grand Canyon

By Zeus!
Shout word of this
To the eldest dead! Titans,
Gods, Heros, come who once more have
A home!

The cinquain looks deceptively easy to write, but that last 2-syllable line can be hard to come up with. If you’re feeling creative, try one. Snow days are meant for poetry, aren’t they?