By Robert Wynne

The Pythku is a variation on the Haiku, utilizing Pythagorean triples for syllable counts. Either the “3-4-5” or “5-12-13” triple can be used. You can write a single, 3-line Pythku, or a Pythku Sequence, in which each tercet follows the syllabic requirements of the form. There are no rhyme or meter restrictions, and use of title and/or punctuation are likewise up to you. Here are examples of an untitled 3-line Pythku, with the 5-12-13 syllable count, and a Pythku Sequence, with the 3-4-5 syllable count:

Your outstretched hand shakes,
the urn’s weight slowly lessening as ash takes flight.
River’s surface darkens briefly, sun mirrored once more.

Fire
By Robert Wynne

Leave the hose,
water running
into a puddle

reflecting
hungry bright flames
that lick the dark sky.

Watch walls fall
into black piles
as a breeze buffets

loose pages
of the novel
you’d nearly finished,

edges orange
and fluttering.
A half dollar coin

folds itself
over the edge
of a stone coaster,

a Dali
of JFK
apologizing

for all this
destruction, smoke
following along

as you turn
and walk away
each sole dark with ash.

Robert Wynne is a regular contributor to Radius.