What Lives On The Wind?

My first Tri-Jan poem.  A Tri-Jan poem consists of three verses, nine lines in each verse.  Syllable count is 8-6-8-6-8-8-4-4-8, with the 4 count syllable lines being a refrain consisting of the first four syllables from line five.  Rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-c-c-d-d-c.

What Lives On The Wind?

The falling snow was relentless,
As it covered the ground.
Quietly it fell, nonetheless,
Ominous, without sound.
Slowly, the windblown drifts piled high,
Yet still the snow fell from the sky.
Slowly the wind,
Slowly the wind,
Picks up speed, I can hear it cry.

What is it that lives on the wind?
I think I know, do you?
The sounds are soft, suddenly then,
So shrill, a scream, it flew
Just past my head, then to a cloud.
I barely heard it, wind’s so loud,
Just past my head,
Just past my head,
Despite the wind, I stay unbowed

In each snowflake live tiny shrikes,
Too small for us to see.
Not here to harm us, or cause strife,
Not scared of you or me.
When you hear shrieks soft on the wind,
Listen to the sounds as they blend.
When you hear shrieks,
When you hear shrieks,
Is it only the wind, or them?

Jim Dorrell
2/3/11