Hello, dVerse poets. Welcome to Meeting the Bar (MTB), the day we work on forms and technique. Today, we’re going to revisit the cascade form, created by Udit Bhatia. Laura had a prompt for this form two years ago in February 2024. This is an uncomplicated form. There are no syllables to count, no beats to tap, and no rhyme scheme. That said, you should try to make the transitions smooth and flowing like a cascading waterfall. (The poem does not have to be about cascades!)

The cascade is not a difficult form to understand. You will use each line from your first stanza in subsequent stanzas. For example, if your first stanza is three lines, your will have four stanzas. The first line of your first stanza becomes the last line of the second stanza. The second line of the first stanza becomes the last line of your second stanza, and so on.

Example (from Shadow Poetry)

I laugh hard at the poor butcher,
With scarlet hands and crimson eyes,
He smiles as he cuts away.

They gather around him everyday,
“unholy killer” they all scream.
I laugh hard at the poor butcher.

Deaf towards the plea of all,
the butcher’s fate was long written
with scarlet hands and crimson eyes.

Children cry amidst the crowd,
a mother faints, another screams.
He smiles as he cuts away.
Copyright: 2007, Udit Bhatia

Here’s another example. It’s one I wrote for a prompt from Jane Dougherty

A Measure of Tears

Her stoic mother kissed her,
the day the man took her away,
Smolensk to Moscow, a measure of tears

that never flowed for the Motherland–
there is duty, and there is love–she remembered
her stoic mother kissed her–

not the first time, but definitely the last,
while the embarrassed sun sulked behind the clouds
the day the man took her away

to that gated place. She learned to dissemble–and excelled–
yet inside a child remained, hurting–
Smolensk to Moscow, a measure of tears.

It’s an ekphrastic poem. You can see the image here.

Despite these examples, your poem does not have to be narrative.

For an added optional challenge, try using techniques such as alliteration and/or assonance or enjambment in your poem.

If you wish, use this painting for inspiration.

There is no required length for this challenge, except your first stanza must be at least three lines, and your poem, then at least four stanzas. Your entire poem will be one more stanza than the number of lines in your first stanza. A first stanza of 3 to 6 lines seems reasonable to me, so you would have a poem of 4 to 7 stanzas.

If you are new to dVerse, here’s how to join in:

*Write a poem and post it to your blog.
*Enter your name and direct link to your poem into Mr. Linky.
*You will also find some other amazing poems! Please read and comment.
*Provide a link to dVerse so others can find us too.
*Drop in to say hello in our discussion below.
*Have fun!