Where was James?

James was never seen again after setting
off down the rutted, puddled road, foggy day
everyone’s worried, where he could be and why
was he upset or was he meeting anyone?

who the last one he saw and other clues
outside the window was a film of fog
some dark clouds were sprayed across the sky
James was never seen again after setting

will we ever see James again as we vent
our sorrow for all to add their concern
we searched everywhere but he was nowhere
off down the rutted, puddled road, foggy day

we sat around with our pot of tea and cake
can we handle this mess before winter comes?
we drove around villages after villages
everyone’s worried, where he could be and why

law enforcers were doing what they could
getting more frustrated as the days went by
and so we carried on looking for clues
was he upset or was he meeting anyone?*

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

* Cascade, a form created by Udit Bhatia, is all about receptiveness, but in a smooth cascading way like a waterfall. The poem does not have any rhyme scheme; therefore, the layout is simple. Say the first verse has three lines. Line one of verse one becomes the last line of verse two. To follow in suit, the second line of verse one becomes the last line of verse three. The third line of verse one now becomes the last line of verse four, the last stanza of the poem. See the structure example below:

a/b/c, d/e/A, f/g/B, h/i/C

To make the Cascade an even longer poem, use more lines in verse one. For example, if verse one has 6 lines, the poem must have seven stanzas so that each line of verse one is reused as a refrain in each following stanza (a cascading effect).

For: Finish off Fridays #2: James (25.11.16), Sunday Photo Fiction – November 27th 2016, Wordle 276 Nov 27 by Brenda Warren