Cascade Poem

This form was invented by Udit Bhatia in 2007. I found this form interesting and wanted to learn more about its creator, but unfortunately although a Google search brought up many Udit Bhatias, none of them was the one I was looking for. So I guess the inventor will just have to remain a mystery.

This is an elegant little poem. It has no set syllable count or rhyme scheme, but it does have repetition. In the author’s own example, you start with a stanza of three lines. This is followed by another three-line stanza, but the third line is a repeat of the first line of the first stanza. The third stanza has the second line of the first stanza as its third line, and the fourth stanza repeats the third line of the first stanza as its third line. Got that?

Maybe a visual will help:

1st stanza line one
1st stanza line two
1st stanza line three

2nd stanza line one
2nd stanza line two
1st stanza line one

3rd stanza line one
3rd stanza line two
1st stanza line two

4th stanza line one
4th stanza line two
1st stanza line three

This gives the entire poem a “cascading” effect, like a waterfall. I have seen longer Cascade poems – the first stanza has four or more lines to it, which require more stanzas to follow – but I don’t know if this is in keeping with the creator’s intent for the poem (one of the reasons I was trying to do some research on him) so I kept my examples to the three-line first stanza.

I quite like this form, so much so that I did two examples for you – one kinda dark, and one much lighter.


Dying Time

Death’s emissary comes for us all in the end,
it is beyond our power to put a stop to this –
the sky opens up and rains down my sorrow.

From the moment we are born
the clock begins to tick; we wait as
death’s emissary comes for us all in the end.

We live our lives as best we can but still
in the end we fight, even knowing
it is beyond our power to put a stop to this.

We have no choice in when we must go
And I was not ready to say goodbye to you.
The sky opens up and rains down my sorrow.



Faery Revels

Faery lights appear in the dusk,
lighting the garden and glade—
fey creatures revelling in secret.

The hot summer days give way
as the moon begins to rise and
faery lights appear in the dusk.

If you’re quiet, if you’re careful,
you might have a chance to see them
lighting the garden and glade.

The pixies sparkle and sing,
the sprites dance and play –
fey creatures revelling in secret.