Zeno inspired by Margaret Simon

My friend Margaret Simon from Louisiana challenged her writing friends to write Zeno poems this week. It’s a 10-line poem with the following syllable count: 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1 where the single-syllable lines rhyme. I’d held a family engagement session this week at a local church’s preschool center, and as I was leaving, I heard the unmistakable caw of a fish crow directly overhead. I snapped a photo, not realizing at the time that it would become my zine photo for a poem! Thanks to Margaret Simon for a fresh, new poetic form. I feel a lot of zenos coming on!


Fish Crow In the Know

high overhead, perching on a 

church steeple, caws

a fish

crow

giving off strained

vibes of

Poe

raven-like eyes

in the

know

6 Replies to “Zeno inspired by Margaret Simon”

  1. Thanks for the shout out. The form is called Zeno. I know it’s confusing because we did make zines with them. The crow on the church steeple is just what I imagined in your poem.

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