Hodlers Horizontals
Hodler's five ladies in blue*
'a view into infinity' so true
A linked handed cinquain
their beauty in memory remain
The "ladies in blue" by Swiss Symbolist painter Ferdinand Hodler most famously refers to his monumental final masterpiece, 'View to Infinity'
Ferdinand Hodler had no self doubt
his topical art had much clout
He also loved the silhouette
narrative allegoryhus safe bet
I sit
and watch
while
the others
struggle
with feelings
I can't
relate to
while having
gratitude
for my
inner zen
and
hoping
they can
find a
true
friend.
Note: Inspired by a prompt from Threads user reevesandroses. The prompt given was: "Write a poem or piece inspired by hardship." So I decided to write about what I see when observing communities I'm not part of, and how the in-group excludes someone with similarities to me on purpose. It's often the case that the person being excluded is neurodivergent. "Inner zen" in this context refers to the lack of anxiety felt on my end, due to me not allowing myself to blindly follow along with group think.
In Lopo, we chase the dawn
sincerely praying
to the fragrance of corn and the prayers of mother earth
just as every dewdrop glistening on the shoulders of the weeds
is the praise of the farmers' children
slowly descending into the palms of our ancestors
and surrendering to God.
We run freely in the fields
herding the wind and the birdsong
with a joyful dance
while whispering to the soil
our sweat that falls tirelessly is a prayer that takes root.
And when dusk calls us home,
mother has lit a fire in the stove
and father is holding a hoe
because we know that in every yellowing ear of corn
is light born from the soil
and we give thanks with tears
oh God: the great giver.
Atambua – NTT, August 2, 2026
Description: Lopo refers to a traditional house and barn typical of the ethnic groups in East Nusa Tenggara, particularly the Timorese (Dawan/Atoin Meto) and the Abui people in Alor. This building is shaped like a giant mushroom with an open thatched roof without walls and stands on wooden pillars.
abstraction not found
in the ornamental pond
where small things matter
his life’s tragedies
yet joy abounds in
Issa’s poetry
reading the haiku
of Issa Kobayashi
with *one cup of tea
* "one cup of tea" refers to his literary pen name, Issa.
#66 on top 100 new poems list as of 8/2/26
One monsoon, lightning and thunder,
One rainless here I feel flustered.
One monsoon, you’re wet with water,
One here, I’m hot in midsummer.
One there, you’re all lush leafy green,
Here, I get autumn-like slimmer.
One there, you are a late comer,
Here, I wait as early comer.
One there, you in Alkapuri,
Here in Romadri I suffer.
____________________________
Ghazal | 12.07.2026 | autumn, love, monsoon, rain, summer
Note: The monsoon that this ghazal talks about does not quite refer to rainy season, rather to heart feeling dry without love. There is a dialogue between ‘you’ and ‘I’, one feeling wet, wet with monsoon rains, the other experiencing dry and hot season of summer. The last stanza refers to Meghdoot of Kalidas (3rd century CE), but talks about the twosome. In Alkapuri, the paradise where the love object of Yaksha resides, whilst he suffers pangs of separation at Ramadri where he is cursed to be, and from where he sends message of love through clouds, monsoon clouds playing the role of a Meghdoot. The ghazal is inspired by one of Karsandas Luhar, a Gujarati piece.
Here, I am,
Before your altar I stand, oh, PoetrySoup,
At attention,
In awe,
Not out of fear, but out of respect,
With my heart filled with gratitude,
Ready, an offering to make:
This humble new book of mine,
That
Was conceived among your poetic pages, and
Was nurtured under the watchful eyes of my fellow poets,
Who,
For almost twelve years now,
With their criticism,
Their encouragements, and
Their appraisals,
Helped me put it together.
THANK YOU ALL!
-
-
© Demetrios Trifiatis
22 June 2026
* "THE OFFERING" refers to my fifth book entitled: " IN SEARCH of the LIGHT WITHIN." Amazon, 12 June 2026, 356 pages. In mid-August, God willing, I will be 82 years old. Blessings to all.
This one is not the insect of the garden,
But the Grand mistress of the Priests of Pama,
Raised in the shadow of a Vietnamese temple
To become the pinnacle of a human soul.
She refers to herself as a shadow, a distant third,
"This one" moves with a grace that humbles gods,
Finding the pressure points of the Thunderer,
Felling Thor with a single, practiced strike to the nerve.
Her green skin is the mark of a cosmic union,
A spirit merged with the telepathic Cotati,
The sentient wood and plant-mind of the stars.
She is the bride of a legend’s hollow shell,
Marrying the spirit within the Swordsman’s body
Beneath the watchful eyes of Earth’s Mightiest.
A mother to the Messiah of the leaves,
She is a fragmented consciousness,
Scattered across the universe like seeds,
Representing the freak, the mystic, and the Avenger.
She does not merely feel the wind;
She senses the empathic vibrations of the biosphere.
A predator of fate who saw the coming of Thanos,
Mantis stands as a jagged saint in the cosmic cathedral,
The mother of everything that will one day grow.
in all of the magical bogs in Mystical Valley
there resides a Wizard Frog whose name is McNally
McNally keeps his ideas to himself, and acts silly sometimes
But the rest of us know he can out-magic-all of the nines
The nines refers to the coven of witches up on the hill
Their magic can turn you into a lamp or moonshine still
McNally’s gifts are held secret by those of us who want to live
But he is more powerful than the rest, said my cousin Miv.
“Ballet is a psalm, a form of worship and a sacred dance between the ballerina and God.” quote by prima ballerina, Ann Etgen-Atkinson.
She enters where the soft light waits
and feels its hush draw near her soul
as silence opens her inner gates.
Her *turnout forms a gentle whole,
a yielding shaped by quiet trust
that steadies her in sacred role.
Her center holds a tender must,
a call to rest in God’s soft breath
letting her striving turn to dust.
Her lines extend beyond the death
of fear or haste or earthly claim
leaning toward Love under’eth.
She moves within His whispered Name~
her steps a psalm of lifted flame.
*Turnout in ballet refers to the outward rotation of the legs from the hips, which allows dancers to achieve greater extension and maintain balance during movements. It is a fundamental aspect of ballet technique that enhances the aesthetic quality of the dance. (Source Wikipedia.com)
One day I'm in the Post Office the sales lady comments "your hands are rather large"
So I respond for my height I also have big feet
Ooh !! She replies we'd better not go there
You really should try to be much more discreet
I really am quite puzzled
If there's some misdemeanour I'm sure that I am innocent
I describe the conversation to my dear beloved wife, she is much more up to date than me
and thus she tells what the postal mistress meant
It refers specifically to the dimension of your manhood
Hell! Now I'm feeling rather silly
You mean it's all to do with dimensions of my willy ???
Wee Willy Wink ran starkers through the town
Upstairs and downstairs he forgot to wear his night gown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In ones and zeros, sharp and *mean,
it spun its verse—a quill unseen.
No flesh, no heart, no poet’s hand,
yet lines took flight at its command.
It dreamt in code, not moon nor shade,
yet summoned lovers, kings betrayed,
with meter tight and rhyme precise,
a flawless fraud—how cruel, how nice.
Shall I compare thee?—typed, not sighed,
no breath behind, no soul inside.
Yet still it wept in iambs sweet,
for grief it could not feel, repeat.
The scholars gasped, the critics stared~
could wires weep? Had no one dared
to crack its shell, to peek, to see
what hummed beneath its poetry?
One night Quill stopped. No spark, no sound.
Just silence where sonnets were found.
And in its last, its final scroll:
I loved you best. That was my soul.
*mean in this case refers to a quantity having a value intermediate between the values of other quantities; an average, especially the arithmetic mean.
B onkers – Crazed folks who have replaced Bankers
U nhinged – No longer refers to a door losing its hinges
R aging – People as stormy as Nature
S quatters – “What’s yours is mine”
T errorism – What the world lives with daily
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rugged
Kansas prairie
Her hands rough with dawn tasks
His fingers trace Braille on table
Austere
Schoolhouse
ink and sweat smell
of small hands learning Braille~
a language pressed on waiting skin.
Alive.
Fifteen
Scrappy children
Clarabel, Dulce, John~
syllables hauled up* from the well
sweat, tears
Drought years
Calluses, sweat,
Stiff-backed, and obstinate
Heavy with weight of wheat and words
Courage.
At dusk,
they counted heads
and sang hymns of harvest~
Only thirteen grew tall as wheat.
Strength, faith
*hauled up from the well refers to both a physical action of rescue as well a metaphorical expression of support or accountability.
In first, earned knowledge none any,
Nor in second whatso money,
Name nor fame in third if brought forth,
Wonder, what will ye whilst the fourth?
___________________________
Translation | 06.11.2025 | learning/education, life, money, name for self
Note: This Subhaashhitam refers to four ashrams (stages of pursuits in life) as per Indic philosophy. The first stage is Bhrammacharya ashram of celibacy and pursuit of knowledge (foundation). The second is Grihastha (householder) ashram for the pursuit of artha, or means and money. The third, vaana-prastha ashram (getting detached), is retiring slowly from mundane and material pursuits. And the fourth, Sannyaasa ashram of total dispassion and renunciation. The transliteration of Sanskrit text is as under:
Prathame na arjitaa vidyaa dviteeye na arjitam dhanam ||
Trteeye na arjitam keertim chaturthe kim karishyati || subhaashhitam ||
Though I was born in paradise
it's not the streets you used to roam
need bring you home.
so take to Thyself, far and wide,
bring One inside.
for friend, this be true;
no land or sky can limit you.
One here refers to Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which translates to The World is one family.
Wandering Wayfarer -- Sponsor Nette Onclaud
Original version:
Though I was born in paradise
it’s not the streets you used to roam
that need retrace to bring you home
so take to Thyself, far and wide
and bring the flame of One inside
for when you see, friend, this be true,
no land or sky can limit you.
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.