My study of the trisect began at the end of 2005 and is still on-going as time and resources permit. This study overlapped my study of the villanelle, terzanelle, and hybridanelle by about a year and a half. The trisect is a poetic form I developed to help me learn and hopefully master the art of verbal depiction. In fact, verbal depiction is very much an implicit requirement of the form.
In brief, the trisect can be understood as a three-part poem, inspired by its visual counterpart, the tryptych. But, in order to create a verbal tryptych, I found that it didn’t work very well to just start writing—I needed a canvas upon which to paint my verbal depictions and frames in which to house them. With this in mind, I developed rules by which the trisect must be written so that there would always be a canvas work upon and frames to work within. I explain the form in the article linked to below, “What is a Trisect?”
Every trisect poem I have written is linked to from the list below. Entries are organized from the most recently completed poem to the oldest.
Structurally, the trisect is somewhat free, but semantically it is possibly the most rigid poetry form in English. This article provides background and detailed information about the trisect along with insights gained from working within its framework. Links to examples are provided in order to illustrate the form itself, including commentary meant to highlight and clarify important features.
Aural Borealis (October 2015)
Inspired by the experience of listening to two massive wind harps out in the deserts of New Mexico. After the poem, I provide some information about the harps and when I visited them, along with links to some photos. Segment I focuses on the strings. Segment II focuses on the frame and the harp as a whole. Segment III focuses on the motion of wind in the strings—or wind song.
Alchemy (August 2008)
The trisect is meant to be experienced and interpreted by the reader, so it’s often not easy to find a way to introduce such a poem. This is one such example. All I can say is go read it; I think it will be worth the time. Segment I focuses on steel. Segment II is focused on the modern skyscraper. Segment III focuses on the effect of modern industry on the world and on humanity as a whole.
kalpa (January 2008)
This poem reflects on the nature of being in that indirect, elusive way befitting the trisect form—and represents but one tiny spur of a lifelong contemplation of selfhood and death. Segment I focuses on the body, the thing we spend our lives in. Segment II focuses on mind, in the Buddhist sense. Segment three is focused on samsara, that seemingly endless process of coming and going.
craft (May 2007)
This highly abstract poem is inspired by the art of poetry itself. Not knowing this, however, the reader is unlikely to ever surmise as much. The beautiful, elegant language is wide open to interpretation. Segment I focuses on the morpheme, the smallest unit of meaning. Segment II is focused on the line, as in a line of poetry. Segment III focuses on the process of writing poetry.
Lapse (January 2007)
The cosmos has always captivated my interest, as much for what we have learned about it as for its mysteries. Stars stand out to me as a sort of metaphor for consciousness. I sometimes even wonder if we aren’t actually projections of star-consciousness. Segment I focuses on our sun. Segment II is focused on our galaxy. Segment III focuses on the process of acceleration.
Exhale (October 2006)
I took on learning to play the transverse flute as part of my process of developing as a poet. At some point I discovered and shifted my efforts to the bansuri flute from India. Segment I focuses on the flute itself. Segment II is focused on breath, without which it is just a piece of wood. Segment III focuses on my slow process of learning to play this magical instrument.
Cathedral (August 2006)
Beginning at least at the age of 5 or 6, I have enjoyed a lifelong relationship with the spirit of sequoia sempervirens, or the coastal redwoods of California. Segment I focuses on the trees themselves. Segment II is focused on the understory of such woods. Segment III focuses on the sounds encountered there. This poem may now only be found in my book, an inkling hope.
blindspot (July 2006)
Throughout my life, I’ve never been able visualize the future, all potentials forever obscured in mist. Segment I focuses on obscurity itself. Segment II is focused on the road of life, or more specifically my personal calling, that narrow path that lures me forever forward. Segment III focuses on the process by which this path is forever absorbed into a cloud of uncertainty and confusion.
Sakura (May 2006)
The sight of cherry trees billowing abloom in early spring always wakes me from even my darkest reverie. Segment I focuses on the cherry blossom itself. Segment II is focused on the environments into which they manifest and disperse. Segment III focuses on the ephemerality of life, or the process of aging and dying. This poem may now only be found in my book, an inkling hope.
Ark (February 2006)
It has been speculated that Europa, the iciest of Jupiter’s large moons, could support conditions for life. Segment I focuses on the rind of ice covering the moon. Segment II is focused on the deep oceans thought to exist beneath that ice. Segment three focuses on the process by which life may have come to exist there. This poem may now only be found in my book, an inkling hope.
Architect (January 2006)
The Lego building block system is possibly the most ingenious line of toys ever conceived for children, as it cultivates a desire to learn, explore and design. Segment I focuses on the building blocks themselves. Segment II is focused on the various creations that can be made from them. Segment III focuses on the magical process by which a child learns and develops through play.
Three Ravens (January 2006)
The dream that inspired this poem inspired three others as well. This cogent dream involved flight, an ancient oak, a city outside of time and three manifestations of the raven. Segment I focuses on a small raven figurine. Segment II is focused on an actual raven. Segment III focuses on the dream experience of being half raven—an experience that involved flying.
Guardian (December 2005)
I canoed the Yukon River solo from Whitehorse to Carmacks when I was 18 and again when I was 27, this time all the way to Dawson City. Years later I came to hold valuable insights into the nature of this river’s spirit. Segment I focuses on the modern canoe. Segment II is focused on the river itself. Segment III focuses on my apparently lifelong interactions with the spirit of this river.
E merge nce (December 2005)
As a child I would build elaborate cardboard forts and hang out in them for hours. When I was 14 a car slammed into one such fort in an alleyway as I napped in it. A big fight with my mother prompted me to sleep there. Segment I focuses on the cardboard fort. Segment II is focused on the automobile. Segment III focuses on a near-death experience I had when the car hit.
