WD Poetic Form Challenge: Ya-du Winner
Learn the winner and Top 10 list for the Writer’s Digest Poetic Form Challenge for the ya-du.
Here are the results of the Writer's Digest Poetic Form Challenge for the ya-du along with a Top 10 list. (Hopefully, we'll open up the next challenge next Monday.)
Usually, I would link back to the original post to read all the original poems, but we can't do that for this challenge. However, feel free to share your ya-du poems in the comments below.
Here is the winning ya-du:
"Return," by William Preston
From a grey sky
blackbirds fly back,
defying snow
in their slow flight;
bestowing spring as the sky grows bright;
urging the sun
to warm running
brooks underneath
the leaf sheathing;
bequeathing green for when robins sing.
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Congratulations, William! This poem is not only technically correct, but it's also a beautiful, lyrical, and visual tribute to the return of spring.
Here’s my Top 10 list:
- Return, by William Preston
- Waiting for Summer, by Lelawattee Manoo-Rahming
- Seasons, by Nurit Israeli
- Year in a Honshu Garden Ya-du, by Margaret Fiske
- Seasons of Pandemic, by Jane Shlensky
- January 27, by Taylor Graham
- Rhode Island, by Sari Grandstaff
- Magical Fantasy, by Catherine Martin
- On a Clear Evening, by Lisa L. Stead
- Awaiting Spring, by Sara McNulty
Congratulations to everyone in the Top 10! And to everyone who wrote a ya-du!
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
