This is my 4 year old granddaughter Stella. This photo of her was taken at a local music festival in April. She certainly captures the festival vibe with her mismatched clothes, bare feet, and easy smile.
Today I chose a tricube form: 3 stanzas, 3 syllables each line. I don’t think the lines have to rhyme, but I wanted to give the poem a song-like feel. Please join me in writing. Leave a small poem in the comments and support other writers with your comments.
Festival Stella
Umbrella
together
with Stella
Little girl
and a twirl
fun unfurls
Hear the beat
of bare feet
toe-tap-greet
Margaret Simon, draft
Reflections on the Teche 
Little girl am I inside
Though you see someone older
Bones may creak and shout “you’re weak!”
But I just shrug my shoulders
I’m 4, I’m 8
I celebrate
Inside I skip, I twirl
Outside you see me rocking here
But
I’m an inside little girl.
By Donna JT Smith ©️2025
Thanks for writing today, Donna. I love how you embrace the little girl inside.
Oh, Donna, I can relate! What a great poem about our forever young insides. I like the playful rhymes. I think this poem would be great in an anthology about grandparents and children. Beautiful!
Yes to the little girl inside!
Yay! Long live that fun little girl inside!
Donna, I hear you. This is beautiful! I love the voice.
Donna, I can certainly relate to that. As my granddaughter is now 8, I will celebrate these last few years of total abandonment with her.
Margaret, you are blessed to have such a precious grandchild. She is amazing.I like your rhyming. Esp. using the New England accent of rhyming umbrella with together. I read it twice before I noticed it. fun!
Ah, Margaret, what a sweety she is. I love the playful rhyming tricube you wrote and the delight the words and picture brings. I hope you are writing a book for each of your grandchildren!
Stella’s colorful noticing
Confident
Brilliant
Festivaling
Bat-booing
Confident
Barefoot
Smiling
Joyous
Confident
Noticing colorful Stella
Lovely skinny, Denise. And you picked a great word – confident – for the repetition.
If I do a book, your poem will have to be in it. You captured her confidence.
Lovely, and your rearrangement of the 1st line works so well!
Denise, you have certainly captured Stella’s spirit. I love it, especially festivaling, bat-booing, and your repetition of confident. Oh, and clever change in the first and last lines.
Love your pic and poem Margaret, such a lovely, spirited, sprouting individual!!!
Here’s my poem:
Uninhibited
Spirit shines
Strongly through
Bats leopards
Lacey fringe
Umbrella
Lassoing
Together
Your barefoot
Smiling pride!
©️ Michelle Kogan, draft
“barefoot smiling pride” – that about says it all!
I love that you put the bats and leopards in your poem. She does have a unique spirit that you captured in your poem. Thanks for writing.
Michelle, what a precious poem capturing little Stella. I love the way you encompassed her look with:
Bats leopards
Lacey fringe
And like others I love the barefoot pride lines
Michelle, you have captured Stella’s spirit, too. You hooked me on uninhibited. I love the flow of your poem, especially lassoing together your barefoot smiling pride!
What a joy Stella is, Margaret! Thanks for sharing her picture – so inspiring.
My skirt does a twirl!
My umbrella unfurls!
I’m dancing the day away!
Having festival fun
Where I’m free to be me
With a whirl and twirl in the sun!
What a fun poem! Thanks for writing.
And you brought all that joy she radiates into your fun poem!
Rose, fun internal rhymes and such a joyful poem about a joyful little girl.
Ah Rose, you have also captured Stella’s spirit so well. I hear her singing your poem! I love all your rhymes and rhythm, and especially how those last two lines sum up the fun she’s having in the lines before.
Margaret, Stella is precious and looks like she is having lots of fun! I love her spirit. I love when you share your activities with your grandchildren. You must have a blast together. I remember twirling with my girls. It’s so much fun. I love your tricube, especially with all the rhyme you have. And you even rhyme your title with the first stanza. Well done!
Thank you for sharing Stella’s special photo.
I’m Stella
feel the beats
one, two, three
dance bare feet
hear the beats
one, two, three
dance with me
one, two, three
twirl, twirl, twirl
Gail Aldous, draft 6/5/25
Gail, thanks for writing such a rhythmic dance-like poem. I love how the repetition works to emphasize dancing.
Thank you, Margaret. It is truly a photo that WANTS to be a poem. I am happy for you that you now have more time to spend with your grands. Hopefully, one day I will have grandchildren. The youngest did her master’s degree right after her BS. This school year is her first-year teaching music and orchestra! And she moved from 5 hours away for her BS, to 4 hrs 20 min. away, to now about 3 1/2 hrs. away! Our oldest lives in CO with her boyfriend of 6 yrs., but they both are working on paying off their college debt. So hopefully… 🙂
Love the rhythm and repetition, Gail!
Thank you, Rose.
Gail, soooo fun! I feel the beat, and it makes me want to do the cha-cha-cha. I especially love the “dance with me” line picturing little Stella connecting with the people around her.
Denise, thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah, I could practically hear Stella saying, “Dance with me.”