It's Still Life

The Architecture of a Moment

Preface: On the Nature of Anglo-Saxon Accentual Verse

Author’s Note

It’s November once more, and that means The Writers’ Digest Poem-a-Day Challenge and Chapbook Contest has returned. I’ve taken part in this annual event since 2009 — sixteen years of daily prompts, poems, and friendships that have grown from shared ink and laughter. Each November brings new lessons in the craft, and I’m still learning from an extraordinary community of poets.

But this year, I’m taking a different path. I’ll still write to each daily prompt, yet my focus will rest on the architecture of a moment, the way a single breath, shadow, or slant of light can become a poem of its own. To frame this exploration, I’m working in a modern interpretation of ancient Anglo-Saxon Accentual Verse, where cadence and heartbeat matter more than count or rhyme.

~ Marilyn

Before English was ruled by rhyme, it was ruled by rhythm; the rhythm of breath and heartbeat, of hoof and hammer. Anglo-Saxon verse in Sussex was accentual, counting stresses rather than syllables: four main beats, divided by a pause (a caesura), inviting the listener to breathe.

These were poems for the ear, not the page. Alliteration stitched sound to sense; imagery rose from the world close at hand … sea’s hiss, a raven’s cry, a latch, a blade, and flame.

This 30-day collection follows that pulse, not by imitation but by echo: a contemporary voice carrying an ancient cadence, guided more by breath than by metre.

Here, we listen for the old heartbeat in modern light, finding in each brief, bright daily moment the weight once given to storm, sea, and sword.

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Written for Writers’ Digest Poem-a-Day Challenge. Poems/prose and some images are ©Misky 2006-2025.