Rooster Said

I skidded into July without even tapping the brakes. Time seems to slip through my fingers the further I travel down the road. I decided to take a pit stop at the poetic form called a Dansa. This style of poetry, known as an Occitan (the official language of Catalonia) this form has no set meter. This lyrical poetry style comes from the Occitan words for “to dance.” I called this Dansa Poem Rooster Said.

Guidelines for writing a Dansa Poem and Rooster Said

*Opening quintain (Or five-line stanza) followed by quatrains (or four-lined stanzas)

*The opening line of the first stanza is the final line of every stanza

*Rhyme scheme in the opening stanza: AbbaA (Capitol represents the refrain

*Rhyme scheme in the other stanzas: bbaA

There are no other rules.

Note: I will also be adding Black Out Poems as we go along the way. I plan to keep using this style until the book I’m using runs out of pages for me to play with to create these unique and visual poems. I’m excited about jogging down this road.

Rooster Said

“I don’t feel old,” Rooster said
Gazing at his elderly reflection
Face wrinkled beyond perfection
“I’d rather be twenty instead.”
“I don’t feel old,” Rooster said.

“Young folks shouldn’t ought to talk
I used to be the cock of the walk
That was back when I was grain fed
I don’t feel old,” Rooster said.

“My baby chicks want to put me out to pasture
That doesn’t sound good for my future
It fills my heart with worry and dread
I don’t feel old,” Rooster said.

I’m not a young chick anymore
That old rooster still makes my heart sore
He’s along way from being cripple or dead
“I don’t feel old,” Rooster’s chick said. 

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

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