Poetry
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Rhupunt
Today, for the National Poetry Month A-Z Challenge, I’m attempting a Welsh form, the rhupunt: The form can be broken down into lines or stanzas Each line or stanza contains 3 to 5 sections Each section has 4 syllables All but the final section rhyme with each other The final section of each line or stanza rhymes with the final section of the other lines or stanzas Sound confusing? Well, let’s give a try, and maybe my example will help you. I’m using a poem from Robert Lee Brewer of Writer’s Digest as a model. An Open Book I tried to hide desires inside, but eyes don’t lie, and he…
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Quatern
Welcome back to the A-Z challenge! Today, I’m trying out the quatern, another French form that is totally new to me. This poem has 16 lines broken up into 4 quatrains (or 4-line stanzas). Each line is comprised of eight syllables. The first line is the refrain (which means it needs to be a good one). In the second stanza, the refrain appears in the second line; in the third stanza, the third line; in the fourth stanza, the fourth (and final) line. There are no rules for rhyming or iambics. Foghorns Foghorns echo in the distance, though night is coming to an end. I unwrap myself from your warmth making…
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Palindrome
Almost all (and there weren’t many) the poetic forms I found for “P” had something to do with repetition of lines or words. But I didn’t want to wuss out and just do a prose poem, since I’m trying to experiment with forms I’ve not written before. So, I’m going to go ahead and give this one a go. For the palindrome poem: You must use the same words in the first half of the poem as the second half, but Reverse the order for the second half, and Use a word in the middle as a bridge from the first half to the second half of the poem. Note:…
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Ottava Rima
For the A-Z Challenge, I’m celebrating to National Poetry Month. For O…it’s the ottava rima. Ottava rima are 8 lines with an abababcc rhyme scheme, most commonly written in iambic pentameter (or 10-syllable lines). The form can work as a stand alone poem, or be used as connecting stanzas. Some Loves Some loves are harder than others to forget. They burrow deep in our soul and wait for inconvenient times. Questions and regrets feed the memories, and never satiate our need for closure. We give what we get: endlessly fishing on a hook with no bait. Our only recourse is to walk away, Hoping years and distance will lead to decay.
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Nonet
Back again for the A-Z Challenge! The nonet poetic form is simple. It’s a 9-line poem that has 9 syllables in the first line, 8 syllables in the second line, 7 syllables in the third line, and continues to count down to one syllable in the final (ninth) line. Breakfast He enters, slow, cracking me open, finding me ripe and ready inside: soft, juicy, and sweet…wanton. He takes me in lusty mouthfuls — greedy, and I drip down his chin: slick, warm… ready to cum.
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Magic 9
The Magic 9 is a newer form. I have no idea who created it, but I found it on Writer’s Digest. It appears to have been inspired by a poet misspelling the word “abracadabra” (seriously, just take away the r’s and you’ve got the rhyme scheme). This 9-line poem doesn’t have any meter or subject matter rules–just a rhyme scheme of abacadaba. I’ve decided to answer the week’s #tellmesomethingtrue question with this poem. Spring After snow and so many dark days, birds begin to sing again, and early blooms reach for the sky. The breeze smells earthy under the sun’s rays, and though it remains crisp in the morning, by…
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Lai
Welcome back for another A-Z Challenge/National Poetry Month post. Today, I’m trying the lai, a French form (I love trying new forms from all over the world, even though sometimes the patterns and rhyme schemes don’t transfer perfectly across languages). The lai is a nine-line poem or stanza that uses an “a” and “b” rhyme following this pattern: aabaabaab. The lines with an “a” rhyme use 5 syllables; the “b” rhyme lines have 2 syllables. Here’s the template: a5 a5 b2 a5 a5 b2 a5 a5 b2 Just Him It’s evening and he needs me to fully see him (not what the world sees or what they believe of him)…
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Kimo
Continuing on with the A-Z Challenge/National Poetry Month homage, we have the kimo. I’m trying to mix things up as far as types of poetry, size/length, and origin. This form is an Israeli version of the haiku. Apparently, there was a need for more syllables in Hebrew. That said, most of the rules are still familiar: 3 lines. No rhymes. 10 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, and 6 in the third. Also, the kimo is focused on a single frozen image (kind of like a photograph). So it’s uncommon to have any movement happening in kimo poems. I opted to go with a still image of…
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Jueju
And, we continue with our A-Z Challenge/National Poetry Month homage! Today it’s the Jueju, a Chinese form that consists of a matched pair of couplets each line has either five syllables or seven syllables (the first kind is called a wujue while the second kind is called a qijue because wu and qi translate to “five” and “seven”) consists of no more than either 20 or 28 characters tend to make extensive use of symbolic language to communicate a great deal of information with a small amount of textIt’s difficult to translate the form into another language (besides Chinese), because it involves alternating tones in each line, which can be…
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Imayo
For the A-Z Challenge, I’m paying homage to National Poetry Month. Each day, I’m publishing a poetic form I have never tried before. Today is the imayo, a 4-line Japanese form that has 12 syllables in each line. There is a planned caesura (or pause) between the first 7 syllables and the final 5. The 5/7 syllable splits are the familiar patterns found in other Japanese forms like haiku, tanka, and senryu. There is no subject matter requirement. The imayo was originally written to be sung. Here’s the simple template: 7-5 7-5 7-5 7-5 In the Alley You enter me: slow and quiet – people walking by your hand hard against my…
