Seasons of a brook 

(Luc Bat)

A stirring by his side,

where daffodils abide and deep

through the snow sunbeams seep,

awakens him from sleep so sweet.

The birds flutter and tweet,

the sky’s azure is neat and Spring

stoops over him sighing :

Winter kept you starving, oh dear,

to flesh you out, I fear,

snowcaps I’ll have to clear, real soon.

And with the timely boon,

brook’s voice is  fit to croon till June.

Summer is not immune

to the refreshing tune and lo!

by Red Moon he is low,

soon  muzzled  is his flow and then,

but the song of the wren

gushes out of the glen.  His form

so poor, so out of norm,

Fall  sets out to reform. A bit

of dew here and a spit

there permit the  brooklet to swell

till  autumn bids farewell.

 A growing cristal shell upsets

the brook and makes him fret

over winter’s fell threat and cry

his pain to the pale sky:

Turn the tide, let thrive my true side.

The poetry form

Luc Bat is a Vietnamese poetry form. It is based on syllable count. The odd lines (1,3,5 etc.) have six syllables while the even lines (2, 4, 6 etc) have eight syllables. The sixth syllable of the odd lines rhymes with the sixth syllable of the even lines. The eighth syllable rhymes with the sixth syllable of the next odd line. It takes an even line linking back to the first line to end the poem.

The brook

What you see on the pictures is actually not a natural brook, but one of the traditional irrigation channels in the Canton of Valais and is called in French a "bisse" and in the German speaking part of the Valais a "Suone".

"Bisses" were either dug out of the ground, like the one here or hewn into the rock. Aquaducts were in certain places suspended along steep cliffsides, the water flowing through carved out larch trunks. This irrigation system was introduced in Switzerland by the Walser in the 13th century.

This "bisse" here is 500 years old.

Pictures

1 : My favourite view of the bisse when all the daffodils bloom.

2. Marsh marigolds follow the daffodils. When they are gone, the "bisse" will soon disappear in a luxurious vegetation.

3. Some euphorbia have finally adjusted to their new home. The "bisse" is hiding right behind them.

4. Winter has been creative. Looks like twin fishes.

5