A Cascade Poem from a Tuesday Event (Written on Tax Day) Which I Wrote About Yesterday. Putting a Bow on Another Grant for Now. Now to the Next One.

I’m always thankful to learn a new poetic forms, and remain delighted to see how the formalities actually tighten language, structuring new possibilities for repetition and word play. Yesterday's prompt was to do a cascade poem which I've never done before. I went with the 4-line challenge and reflected on a writing event I co-hosted at the Lordship House in southern Connecticut on Tuesday, where Dr. Karen Karbiener, of The Walt Whitman Initiative, shared her knowledge with CWP, writers, local politicians, and teachers. What a stunning location.

I'm thrilled to say, too, that yesterday's campus lecture was also phenomenal. I'm beyond proud and thrilled to have pulled off the events and am always happy to work with local teachers in partnership with a university project. In cascade, the 1st four lines are the lines that get repeated in following stanzas. Cool...helps to create a natural narrative. 

Today, I am cleaning my house. I'm embarrassed to say that I've been living piles and I should also admit that my grass is up to my knees. I need to take a 'me' day to not be 'University Bry.' It's been a lot. I will try to practice that self-care mantra. We shall see. 

With Karen Karbiener (A Cascade Poem)
b.r.crandall, April 14, 2026

Many came together to write & to learn
the fluidity of Calamus plants & Walt Whitman,
keeping 12 poems on paper (a couplet missing) &
looking at the same Long Island Sound. Who are

any of us to feel leaves of grass on bare feet?
Long tails ducking in & out of water,
while northern pins finish migrating north.
Many came together to write & to learn…

 to read beauty along the shoreline like he did in New Orleans.
 Does he see himself reflected in me? In the hours,
 does he see the faces of his hours reflected?
 Calamus 9 planted on page with fluidity. Whitman

 heard death in the rocking waves. We centered life, the climate,
 a coast, & local marine life along the shores of Connecticut –
 Lordship House (where Jackie Robinson once stopped by).
 12 words on paper kept for a poem, thankful to the couple

 opening their home for us to write. Michael & Adrienne.
 Such weather. Alisha’s chocolate salami, baked parmesan,
 focaccia, fruit, rose-twirled salami, & whipped feta dip.
 Looking at the Long Island Sound…together is who we were.