A Rictameter and a Changing World

Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by the amazing Amy Ludwig Vanderwater Here at The Poem Farm. Thank you, Amy, for hosting! I look forward to what you are sharing this week.

School starting in September is a time when children learn about change, learn to look forward to it. New friends, new books. But as I wrote this short poem, the one below, about change, I realized that I’ve imbued it with my current adult feelings about change, about current change all around us that isn’t normal. Leaves turning took on a deeper meaning. So maybe my poem is a little melodramatic. I can’t tell.

The RICTAMETER, a form that I heard about on Poetry Friday. It is a poem of nine lines with the syllable pattern:2-4-6-8-10-8-6-4-2. The first and the last lines are the same.

TO MY SUMMER FRIEND

Leaves turned. 
From green to red, 
rattled in the blue sky, 
broadcasted: fall is on the way.

I shiver and run to catch the school bus,
thinking of our summer hide out, 
sharing books under trees,
laughing before
leaves turned. 

© Janice Scully 2025

A tree painting exercise I recently did. I have a great respect for those who paint trees that are realistic. That will definitely take a while.

Real trees at Green Lakes State Park in Upstate New York. There are scattered benches and it might be a nice place to read on a summer day.

Have a happy Poetry Friday,

11 thoughts on “A Rictameter and a Changing World”

  1. Ooh! I hadn’t heard of this form, thanks for sharing a new-to-me one. There’s so much life in these lines, so much of living. I like the shift that occurs despite the unchanged first and last lines – leaves turning, school resuming, life continuing from summer’s interruption – but you really have to choose carefully how you begin with this one, and find just the right word that has multiple usages. Clever! Thanks for sharing.

  2. Your painted trees are magical and your poem does not feel a bit melodramatic. That shiver is a hint. And change is, well, so many things. It is a struggle to know these days. Your moment of memory on the cusp of fall is lovely indeed. Take good care. xo, a.

  4. I just saw this name for a form but didn’t know about it, either – thank you for the great example! I’ve been thinking a lot about the leaves turning this year, too. Love your jaunty painted trees. :0)

  5. Thanks for the new form and great example. I love the reflection in your poem – looking back as we move forward. Love your trees, too!

  6. ooooh, I need to try this form. Your poem does sound kid-like. I recently spent time with an eleven year old, one on one and it was so good for me to see/hear the perspective of this one child. They have so much they deal with in life…it’s no wonder they hide behind a little screen. The next time we get together I hope we can go outside and enjoy some nature together. You give me good ideas.

  7. Janice, I do not sense any melodrama in your poem. I think this poem may start a good conversation for upper elementary children. Your trees are lovely. Are they Green Lake trees? I remember days when I had fun at the Green Lake. Would you be interested in offering a image poem or a drawing with a short poem for the Summering 2025? If you did not see the invitation look here: https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2025/09/summer-passes-by.html

  8. Umm…your trees ARE realistic. And quite lovely! Paint on! And I don’t detect any melodrama in your poem either. I like the contrast between rattling/broadcasting and laughing/sharing.

  9. I agree with others that it doesn’t feel melodramatic. Certainly one could interpret it on both the child-like and adult levels, but that’s what makes it lovely and all the more rich.

    And I love the look of those trees!

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