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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…
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Hay(na)ku
For the A-Z Challenge this year, and in honor of National Poetry Month, I’m a attempting a new-to-me form of poetry each day. I’ve written hundreds of haiku over the course of my lifetime, but the hay(na)ku is new to me. Find out more about it here. They are both fun and EASY. Which I definitely needed after the last few. 1 Blessed we are to breathe free. 2 You keep me hungry for more. 3 Books find me lost in myself. 4 Inside she sits, sipping the view. 5 Lovers braid themselves into complex patterns.
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Ghazal
For the A-Z Challenge this year, I’m also celebrating National Poetry Month (this will likely become a “thing” for me). Today, I’m on to “G,” and since I’m pushing myself to write forms that I have never written before, today, I’m going with the ghazal. The rules for this one are quite complex, and rather than rewriting them, take a look at this, as the instructions are good and the example is helpful. Here we go… Grendel’s Price Angry winds blew and the clouds bled darkness– blackbirds gathered, rose in swells, fled darkness. Squealing laughter, fever-pitched, swirled in storm– nightmare shadows took flight and fed darkness. On the alter, bodies…
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Flamenca
For the A-Z Challenge, and to celebrate National Poetry Month, each day I’m attempting a form of poetry I have never written before. Today…the flamenca – 5 lines lines 1, 2, 4, and 5 have 6 syllables line 3 has 5 syllables lines 2 and 5 assonate here’s the pattern template, if you want to try: 1-6 2-6 (a) 3-5 4-6 5-5 (a) A Facile Dip His palm supports the curve of my deeply arched spine as I bend backwards, his arm holding me up… notes still keeping time. Others continue on– swirl, grind, gyrate and slide, but our dance is through: a different song calls the hunger inside. I…
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Echo Verse
For the A-Z Challenge, and to celebrate National Poetry Month, I’m attempting a new poetic form every day. Echo Verse repeat the end syllable(s) of each line no other rules there are two ways to do this: repeat the ending syllable(s) at the end of the same line, or repeat the ending syllable(s) on its own line directly beneath each line So let’s give it a try… (If you are viewing this on a phone, the line breaks are bit off, so I’ve bolded ends and beginnings to make it clearer.) End of Night – The Storm Outside The trees bend, ending night’s stillness— nestling birds quiet their calls. All’s…
