Poetry: A Garland Cinquain

A cinquain is a five-line syllabic poem. The number of syllables per line follows the pattern - 2,4,6,8,2.

A garland cinquain is a series of six cinquains. The sixth cinquain containing a line from each prior, preferably in order. (The first line from the first cinquain, the second line from the second cinquain, etc.)

I wrote the following on my maternal grandmother, who died on September 11, 1951.

Myrtle: A Life Story
©2009 John C Newmark

Myrtle
Van Every
was born in aught zero
last of eight kids for Maggie and
Melvin

Myrtle
Van Every
had lots of male callers
who show up in photos without
labels

Left home
at age twenty
she moved to St. Louis
not too long after her brother
Sam did.

At night
she expanded
on her education;
and worked at the post office with
gusto.

A brief
marriage ended
then in her mid thirties
she found who she had been seeking:
Martin.

Myrtle
Van Every
she moved to St. Louis
and worked at the post office with
Martin.