Wayra

Sometimes I find it difficult to locate information about a poetry form, and this week it was the Wayra. What facts I did manage to ferret out agreed on a few basics. The Wayra is a short verse form originating in South America. The name means "Wind" in Quechua, one of the traditional native languages of Incan culture. Written in five lines, it has syllable counts of 5-7-7-6-8 and is unrhymed.

This gives us a structure as follows:

1. xxxxx
2. xxxxxxx
3. xxxxxxx
4. xxxxxx
5. xxxxxxxx

After writing the first example, I thought the form was short enough that I could take the time to write a couple more. This being a South American form, I chose to write the remaining two examples with a South American theme.



Cold

Dark of night descends -
Wolf howls on autumnal winds.
The chill that is in the air
Has so little to do
With the coming of the winter.


~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Inca

Now the time is here
Come you all from Cay Pacha*
Celebrate the festival
Of Inti the sun god
And Mama Quilla of the moon

*Cay Pacha, the outer earth where humans live.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Chocolate

Ka’kau’, the god’s gift
Hot and frothy, bitter spice
Poured, back and forth from a height
Mayan secret spirit
The cacao god, Ek Chuah