It is a new month, meaning time to come up with a new challenge. After looking at a few different things, I settled upon the shadorma, a six-line form with a syllable count of 3/5/3/3/7/5. My initial effort using this form is an ekphrastic poem, inspired by the Richard Lester version of The Three Musketeers.

On the screen
swords cross and men fall
Blood seeps through
red tunics
Shouts echo through the courtyard
until fighting ends

And they go
having saved themselves
once again
Left behind
the troubles of the moment
until the next time

The crowds paid
the queen spins around
while kings play
in the square
at pressing matters of state
until trouble comes

Guards arrive—
off to the Bastille
Madame flees
torch raised high
into the gentleman’s arms
until the night falls

Morning come
intrigue must follow
Through the rain
city streets
promise intrigue in earnest
until lovers sigh

And they sigh
for all of love’s gifts
all that love can offer
For when love enters freely
loving can begin

(2 October 2016—posted October 3)