I recently wrote a poem for The Syllabary project. To be honest, I’m still not sure how to explain this thing but, basically, there are hundreds of syllables. Each syllable has a word or multiple words which can be made out of it. Poets then write a poem using all the words for the syllable they were given. By way of example – I was given the syllable FIP which can only make one word – FLIP. So, I wrote a poem which contained the word “Flip”.

Now, if you are confused – check out The Syllabary website. It won’t help but it LOOKs really cool. Also, Peter McCarey (who wrote all the poems on that site) is looking to open the project up and may be willing to give YOU (yes you!) a syllable to work with.

Our friend Aiko explained all of this already on her blog in a much clearer and more interesting fashion. (Also, I stole the above pic from her site. Sue me!) So go there if you want more details. The Syllabary site is sadly lacking in context but – once again – it does look very cool.

Here is my poem for the Syllabary:

Whiff of Winter

It smells like a dog

barking in the dark

to see his breath

and prove to neighbours

he is there. So we shutter

our windows, hide our hands

in gloves, seek an orchard,

a covered bridge, anything

to mark the season for where it is —

to say, I know where I live,

the time of day, the calendar month

and I can gut a pumpkin, smell burning

leaves, apples fermenting. The taste

of cold metal flashes like a blade, sharp

and sure as a heart about to flip and fall

in love before the leaves brittle with frost.