I was challenged to write a cinquain (pronounced sin-kane) this week. I was out Saturday night in the snow after taking this picture earlier in the day.

In case you are unfamiliar with an American cinquain, it is a poem with five lines. The first line is the subject of the poem with two syllables. The next line has two adjectives that describe the noun with a total of four syllables. The the third line has three verbs of action related to the noun with six syllables. The fourth line contains a phrase of eight syllables related to the noun. The fifth and final line has only two syllables that consists of a synonym or noun that renames the original noun. Also a cinquain has no ending punctuation.

A cinquain can also be any five-line stanza. It originated in medieval France.

Here’s my offering:

Springing
Warming breezes
Surprising frozen blast
Briefly dampens expectations
Renew

Now, you try one!