Yo's Story

(This was TOUGH!)

New Prompt: I was listening to a song today that brought some cheer. It was the Yodeling song, about a man, that loved to hear yodeling. The old man loved to hear his name - Yo. Write a poem, using the "Triolet" as your form, to tell his life story. Maximum 6 stanzas.


The triolet is an old French form that is short and witty or more traditionally romantic. It has 8 lines in the rhyming scheme abaaabab. The first two lines (ab) and the last two lines(ab) are the same, as well as the first line and the fourth.



A small village was home to Yo
Who spoke in music rather than words
His mom sang to him in notes so low
A small village was home to Yo
The music stayed with him as he started to grow
The sounds more beautiful than any he heard
A small village was home to Yo
Who spoke in music rather than words

Yo grew older and continued to sing
Using his voice to earn him his keep
Kids came to hear him and treats they would bring
Yo grew older and continued to sing
He loved the children and denied them nothing
Many times his voice soothed them to sleep
Yo grew older and continued to sing
Using his voice to earn him his keep

Yo has been gone now for many a year
But in that village they remember him still
Talk to the folks and you’re likely to hear
Yo has been gone now for many a year
His voice could move the coldest to tears
He’ll live forever in that small village he will
Yo has been gone now for many a year
But in that village they remember him still


This won the Writer's Cramp on 12/17/03!