Hello, fellow dVersians! Melissa here from Mom With a Blog, bringing you today’s poetic prompt, drinks, and snacks. Today we will be writing with the quadrille, a form created by our very own, Di. What is the quadrille?, you ask. The quadrille is a petite poem of just 44 words, and it must be exactly 44 words, no more and no less. The other stipulation of the verse is that it must include a word provided by your dVerse host, and today, that’s me! So, let’s get to it.

When scrolling through our master list of all the quadrille words we’ve used, I learned that we have never used a word beginning with the letter x. No more! Today, I am bringing you your first-ever quadrille word beginning with x. Are you ready for it? Drumroll please…🥁

xenolith

A xenolith is a fragment of foreign rock trapped inside a larger igneous rock. (See image below.) Xenolithic is used to describe a rock containing such fragments. The plural of xenolith is xenoliths. And an individual foreign crystal trapped inside an igneous rock or other body of crystal is called a xenocryst.

Xenolith comes from two Greek words: xeno, meaning foreign, and lithos, meaning stone.

If you’re a rhyming poet, think you can’t rhyme with xenolith? Think again! Check out this list of words that semi-rhyme with xenolith.

Xenolith in poetry? Check out the following excerpts:

“But — I am the

Youngest in my family, if you don’t count the cats, and also a

Xenolith rock transplanted into Portland but still born here, like the

Worn cobblestones in Oldtown and the invasive

Virginia possum. If I am South Wind’s awe at nature I am also a Giantess, an

Unwelcome trespasser into native land, like the whole city

Transplanting dense fir, cedar, hemlock, and maple —“

from “Land of Broken Eggs (Hometown Abecedarian)” by Catalina Monteiro

“Unicorn tapestries.       unraveling my own twisted travels; I can only re-
Velociraptor.   verse and revisit so many times. I’m always on to the next
Whaling (history of).   wisp of knowledge. I rejoice in how quickly results, like
Xenolith.        xebecs, sail across my screen. I can spend hours spiraling.
Yuri Gagarin.      Yesterday’s search history is the start of a new journey: the
Zero gravity.     Zvečan Fortress, the scarab beetle, the endless possibilities.”

from “Ode to Wikipedia” by Gretchen Rockwell

“When he asked,
I didn’t say yes right away,
fearing myself embedded
like a xenolith, bits
and pieces torn off,
trapped in his magma,
thwarted from traveling
my own journey.”

from “Slow Flow Lava” by Laurie Rosen

“In the shadows
of reeling indignant desert drones,
we felt the molten rock embrace our feet.
Cradled now, we sleep the sleep of stones.
Maybe in twenty centuries you’ll find us here,
another fetal xenolith waiting to be reborn.”

from “Stony Sleep” by Dan Albergotti

For further reading:
“Letters to Boulders: A poet geologist reads the earth” by Karen Donovan
“Xenoliths” by Joseph L. Gross
“Poetry Forms: Xenolith”

If you’re new, here is how to join us:

• Write a poem of exactly 44 words in response to the prompt. Your poem must contain the word xenolith.
• Enter your name and a link directly to the post containing your poem into Mr. Linky. Remember to check the box to accept use/privacy policy.
• Read other poets’ work as they enter their links into Mr. Linky. Check back as more will be added.
• Please link back to dVerse from your post.
• Have a wonderful time!

Mr. Linky will remain open until 3pm EST on Monday, September 14, 2025.