Byr a thoddaid;
(bir a thod-deyed)

This form consists of any number of quatrain stanzas. Each stanza combines one couplet of eight syllable lines a. a. and one couplet where the first line has ten syllables and the second line has six syllables. This couplet is called a toddaid byr.

There is no set order for the couplets.

In the ten syllable line the main rhyme b. b. is found before the end of the line and the last syllable of that line links the six syllable line by alliteration, assonance or secondary rhyme. Here is the form layout for either variation.

x x x x x x x a
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x x b x x c.
x c x x x b

or

x x x x x x d x x e.
x e x x x d
x x x x x x x f
x x x x x x x f

Seasons

The change of seasons, bare to bloom,
I see pass swiftly from my room;
Fall makes a place for Winter days that come
To numb sun’s last warm rays...

Gently now they kiss our faces
With the last of Autumn’s paces.
Too suddenly they will be gone - then cold
Folds over us; frost’s fun.

Today there is still time to bask
Beneath the hot sun’s golden mask.
Last vestiges of Summer’s final run,
They’re gone at last, to die.

Nature will rejoice and treasure,
Days to come with sun and pleasure.
First snow will reign for many weeks, till Spring
Brings back the warmth man seeks.

Leny Roovers

Cyhydedd fer Posts
Contents

Deborah Bel: Footwork; God's Blood; Light of the new morn; The Piper Calls
Gloria Carpenter: In Tune with You; Scarabun Citydance
Ryter Roethicle: So it goes; Winters End; Winters End II
Deborah and Ryter: All Ills Cure; Skies

Deborah Bel

Footwork

I have soared from the depths of my being
In ringing chimes of one
To want nothing more than loving
To give nothing more than blessing.

I have fallen to the pits of despair
In lairs of filth to sit
To have nothing for which I cared
To wallow in misery there.

I have treaded a path between two ways
With paces of the free
To squander or invest the pay
To live and die another day.

'tis folly and 'tis wisdom I have known
To sow my journey's fund
To walk upon these paths of home
Then set my sights on where to roam.

-----

God's Blood

We are assured, it is not the belief
This grief, not what was taught
This river of blood on the hands
Uplifted for a God's demands

All who have a God, say their God is love
Who understands our fare
As we sit blaming blood on hands
To some more distant Gods' demands

I try to understand our rage and fear
These tears shed by the hour
As we share our dark blood on hands
Uplifted to these God's demands

Even those who deny there is a God
Who nod at pious prayer
Must even share the blood on hands
Uplifted to their own demands

What is the right answer for all this blood
In floods that sweep our door?
How will we clean blood on these hands
Uplifted to such cruel demands?

-----

Light of the new morn

Softest light of the new morning
With your liquid amber glowing,
You stir these weary muscles once again
To train for life's tussles.

You break their paralytic sleep
With light in warming tongues to creep
Upon the wall until you reach my bed
While shedding night's dark hues

Now with my evening's slumber past
Your light now holding to me fast
I stretch to meet your dawning day anew
And view your morn with awe.

-----

The Piper Calls

It was the wild soul sound of the piper
Preferred call of the grove
That reached my ears 'fore mist met morn
With the soft breath of new day born

And I walked down the rustic stone path
To track melodious
My steps quickened to ancient calls
Ancestors roaming wooded halls

With them the piper, stood fair 'pon the hill
To fill the misty air
'till morning rose, its light I saw
then turned and knew he heard the call

Those woods were wandered every still night
No sight nor sound ahead
But in my dreams he called to me.
To dance 'till dawn beside the sea.

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Gloria Carpenter

In Tune with You

What does your music do to me?
Captures, spellbound, yet sets me free,
as if I am the instrument it plays,
always in tune with you.

So softly in whispers so near,
its call in every sound I hear.
Your music seeks my soul in waves of bliss,
like kisses search within.

Come, look into my eyes, soul deep
and see your music play, then sweep
me in your arms, as stars shine, singing true.
Do you hear music? Mine?

-----

Scarabun Citydance

Scarcity

Hey, if you take a picnic to the beach,
watch each morsel! And quick...
make a sign frowning "Not Allowed!"
Sit alone under your black cloud.

Abundance

Hey, if you take a picnic to the beach
share each morsel, and stick
to smiling, with a laugh out loud.
Chinese Food ‘specially draws a crowd.

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Ryter Roethicle

So it goes

Pulling the sun, aloft the day begins
And night’s sins are all gone.
Morning mists give way to blue sky
A lofting hawk shrills out its cry.

Against the sun, the hawk seeks out its prey
The last day has begun
Scurrying ignorant of fate
The mouse seeks food to feed its mate

Victim is beneath, wings close on high
From the sky, sudden death
So some may live another must die
A lofting hawk shrills out its cry.

As the sun nears it noontime place
A mountain lion strides out with grace
It sees nest on high, with loud shrilling young
Hunger bids that they die.

-----

Winters End

The North wind blows more swiftly now
Fallow fields at rest from the plough
Finally welcome rains too long overdue
Farmers too feel the same.

Seven years too long, some have left
Man overworked, land under blessed
Yet some holding onto what seemed a dream
A bitter scene to view.

Bad dreams all end, or so tis said,
New seasons promise good instead,
A hopeful end of winter promises so
They know it all depend.

Pray to whoever God you choose
This time the farmer will not lose
Through fields of waving corn and such we see
A happy time is born.

-----

Winters End II

When the East wind blows it will rain
Persistent showers, not a pain,
A much needed blessing upon the ground
The storms pound a cursing.

The farmer smiles a rare sight,
Vista ensures a sleepy night
And once brown soil, now shows patches of green
This sight seen, worth the toil.

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Deborah and Ryter

All Ills Cure

The smell of new mown grass and rain
How lovely the world seems again
The scents of Mother Nature at her best
Stress at rest, all ills cure.

She spreads her wealth so to please our eyes
Fills the air with her sighs
Breathing once more her sweet fresh scent
I lay back in pure contentment.

-----

Skies

The days fly sure as any Eagle flies
Bird cries as the days die
The sun has dragged across the sky
'till night time lofts her starry try.

The moonlight drifts slowly across my sight
Her light illuming night
She mimics fiery lover's skies
Through gentle touch of moonlit sighs.

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