Hello dVerse Poets! Welcome to Quadrille Monday!

It’s Merril. I’m back, and today we’re writing short poems called quadrilles.

If you’re new to dVerse or the quadrille, it’s simply a poem of 44 words, excluding the title. This is a dVerse-created form. It can be written as any type of poem, rhymed or unrhymed, metered, or unmetered. You MUST use the given word–or some form of the word, such as seedling– in your poem (not simply the title). Today the word is SEED.

Here in southern New Jersey, at the start of May, spring has fully sprung. The first spring flowers are nearly gone, and the late spring flowers are blooming. Despite the crazy April weather—or perhaps because of it—everything is very green. Many people are working or thinking of working on their gardens, and farm stands have local asparagus and flowers.

Many plants are grown from seeds, of course. Did you know there’s a global seed vault in Norway close to the North Pole? Seeds can refer to reproduction and progeny or competitions (the top seed in a sports competition). You might prefer poppy seed or sesame seed bagels, or add seeds, such as fennel or cumin to your cooking. Clouds are sometimes seeded to help with rain. And don’t forget the horror child of the 1956 classic movie, The Bad Seed! I hope this has given you the seed of an idea.

For more inspiration, consider, Robert Frost’s lovely poem, “Putting in the Seed.”

You come to fetch me from my work to-night
When supper’s on the table, and we’ll see
If I can leave off burying the white
Soft petals fallen from the apple tree.
(Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite,
Mingled with these, smooth bean and wrinkled pea;)
And go along with you ere you lose sight
Of what you came for and become like me,
Slave to a springtime passion for the earth.
How Love burns through the Putting in the Seed
On through the watching for that early birth
When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed,
The sturdy seedling with arched body comes
Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.

Or this excerpt from “Seed” by Kathleen Driscoll
“And now
in late summer, daughter,
you smile, holding a ripe watermelon,
cut in half, exposing the black
seed within its bright red heart.”

Or– Emily Dickinson’s “Longing is like the Seed”

Longing is like the Seed
That wrestles in the Ground,
Believing if it intercede
It shall at length be found.

The Hour, and the Clime –
Each Circumstance unknown,
What Constancy must be achieved
Before it see the Sun!

Remember YOUR poem must be exactly 44 words and include the word seed.

Here’s what to do!
–Write a poem of exactly 44 words, using the word seed.
–Post the poem on your site.
–Add the link for that post page–NOT your Web site or this post—in the Mister Linky below.
–Read and comment on others’ poems!