Day 2 of National Poetry Month

It is day three and I am on day two of a National Poetry Month challenge: I'm determined to write a poem a day in April.

Today's word to incorporate into a poem is pithy, given out very generously by the madman behind Madness! Poetry, Ed DeCaria.
.

#iheartfilters

Unlike yesterday's nonet form, the form I used today does not, that I know of, have a name.  If I were to rewrite it, I would change the rhyme scheme a bit so that there was rhyming between the stanzas to create a better flow in the poem.  But, since perfect poetry is not what I'm after this month, it remains.

If you're playing along, here is its basic form (- unstressed syllables, / stressed syllables):

- - / - - / A
- - / - - / B
- / - - / - - / B
- - / - - / C
- - / - - / D
- / - - / - - / D

Happy National Poetry Month!

Happy National Poetry Month!

I'm planning on writing a quick children'sish poem a day.  I say quick which means not perfect and barely edited.  :)

Last year's poetry month plans went south fast, so we'll see if my resolve resolves.

I should mention I'm a day late so already the outcome seems a little grim.

Play along if you wish with your own quick, not perfected poems.

Today's poem is a nonet: nine lines. First line nine syllables, second line eight syllables..and so on and so forth until line nine, which is one syllable.

It can rhyme.  Or not.
Have rhythm. Or not.

Be any subject.

Some may say it's barely a poem.

Maybe true.  But fun to write.

Cheesy background?
I say classy background.

Today's poem brought to you by Amelia Shearer, who assigned me a word (sprouted) ever so nicely, because I asked. 

Writer Wednesday ~ Terse Verse Expanded Form

Yesterday, I shared information about a short poetry form called the terse verse (also known as a hinky pinky or higgly piggly)

To sum up:

The title is a question or statement.

The poem is two words that rhyme that answer the question or describe the title.

Yup.  That’s it.

I wrote the example:

What You Call a Dog Who’s Eaten Too Much

Hoggy doggy.

I like this form.

I really do.

Short and sweet.

Simple.  

Everything I’m not.

Which means that  of course I can’t just leave it at that.

So instead of one terse verse, I like to write a string of them to tell a story.

Because words.

And story.

I like to call this brand-spanking new form of the terse verse a:

Wait for it.

You’ll love it.

Probably not.  The name I mean.  The form is fine.  It’s just cheesy.  The name.  Not the form.  Let’s be clear here, folks.

And it’s probably not brand new because there is nothing new under the sun but I couldn’t find anyone writing strings of terse verses so I’m pressing on with my new-to-maybe-just-me form of poetry.  My apologies to someone who’s already invented/created/discovered the joy that is the:

HALE TALE TERSE VERSE.

I know.  I’m sorry.  Hale can mean hearty or robust which is kinda the opposite of terse and I’m telling a more robust story with my string of little poems and obviously I had to rhyme.

#rhymingislife #iloverhymes #nosuchthingastoomanyrhymes #alsoimnotopposedtoalittlecheese

#mmm #cheese  #hungry

Rules of the Hale Tale Terse Verse

Suggestions, really.  Take them as you wish and do what you may.

• Create a short story using two or more terse verses.  (Terse verse? Terse versi?  Arg.  Plurals hard.)
• Titles of each individual terse verse may be as long or short as you’d like but should only be one sentence.  Run-ons acceptable.
• Each individual terse verse still needs to have only two words in it
• You may choose whether to give the group of terse verses another main title.
• You may choose to capitalize both words of each terse verse or just the first or not at all.

In The Doghouse

What You Call The Puppy Who Looks At You Beseechingly Whilst You Eat A Slice Of Yummy Cake

Mooch pooch.

What You Call The Pooch Standing Nonchalantly On The Counter When You Come Inside From Playing A Super Fun Game Of Hide-N-Seek With Your Friends

Up pup.

What You Call The Mutt Who Ate Almost An Entire Cake Whilst Standing On The Counter Whilst You Played A Super Fun But Ill-advised And Regrettably Long Game Of Hide-N-Seek

Hog dog.

What You Call The Hound Who Also Ate Mom's Favorite Pair Of Slippers Presumably Whilst Pondering How To Conquer The Counter For Cake Whilst You Played An Actually Kinda Boring Game Of Hide-N-Seek.

Slipper nipper.

What You’re In When Mom Finds Out That She Will Not Get To Enjoy A Slice Of Mrs. Keller’s Cake Whilst Wearing Favorite Slippers Because Young Man You Forgot To Kennel The Canine Before Going Outside To Play A Not To Be Repeated For A Week ‘Cause You’re Grounded Game Of Hide-N-Seek Plus Guess Who Gets To Clean Up When He Gets Sick From Eating Almost An Entire Cake

Double trouble.

What Kind Of Dog You Have When You’re Sad And Grounded And Mom’s Still A Little Mad Even Though She Says She Forgives You

Hug pug.

Written by: Rebekah Hoeft ~ ©2017

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Teacher Tuesday ~ Poetry Form ~ Terse Verse

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Teacher Tuesday ~ Poetry Form ~ Alexandroid

I'm a rhymer.

Yup, I said it.  I like to rhyme.

And I like a set form, whether it's a limerick or a haiku or a villanelle or a sonnet or one I impose on myself.  Writing in a fixed form can be maddening but I like the constraint it brings to my writing since I have a tendency to go on, ad nauseam, about a subject if I'm interested in it because there are ever so many words that make me happy.  Delighted, even.  Charmed.

 Ahem.

Fitting the pieces, the words, into the correct amount of syllables, using the correct rhythm, with the perfect rhyme is like a puzzle to me.

Except I don't really like puzzles--so many little pieces.  They drive me bonkers.

But words.  Words I can do.  Though I may be tempted to throw my notebook across the room when they don't quite fit.  But better a notebook than a 1000 piece puzzle, right?!

Last week I ran across a rhyming, metrical poetry form invented/discovered by Jared Carter, reported on by the Society of Classical Poets.  It's called the alexandroid.  Here's the description, as told by C.B. Anderson.

"...an alexandroid consists of six alexandrine (iambic hexameter) lines, where each line is broken into four-foot and two-foot segments, with end rhymes occurring in the corresponding segments in an abab rhyme scheme. The short segments should be indented roughly ten spaces. Two divided alexandrine lines constitute a stanza."

 "The minor segments should begin with a lower-case letter (unless grammar demands otherwise) in order to preserve the integrity of the component alexandrine lines. It can be noted that the major segment ought not to have a feminine rhyme-ending, since this would result in a metrical infelicity."

He also notes that enjambment is a good choice for this poetry form.

Well.

Let's break that down a bit, shall we?

I'm a relative newbie to the poetry writing world, so words like alexandrine, iambic hexameter, metrical felicity, and enjambment require a bit of research.  Feel free to click those links.

I'll wait.

So, as I understand it, the alexandroid:

• follows the iambic meter--da DUM (unstressed stressed syllables)
• has 6 lines that look like 12 with each line broken into 2 segments; the first segment has 8 syllables, the second has 4
• the second segment uses a lowercase letter at the beginning of the line unless it's a proper noun
• the second segment should be indented 10ish spaces
• is divided into 3 stanzas--2 lines (4 segments) per stanza
• each stanza follows the ABAB rhyme pattern
• enjambment (segment to segment and stanza to stanza) is good because it pulls the parts of the poem together.

Clear?

Here's an example--just the first stanza of an alexandroid I'm working on.  You can find the finished one here.

So far away and once upon
          a time there were
Four Droids. With varied brains and brawn
          the foe deter.

And again, with lines, stress, and rhymes marked.

Line 1.1     So FAR aWAY and ONCE uPON
Line 1.2               a TIME there WERE
Line 2.1     Four DROIDS. With VARied BRAINS and BRAWN
Line 2.2               the FOE deTER

So, let's run down the check list:

• Iambic?  Check.
• 12 syllables per line, divided into 8 and 4 syllable segments?  Check.
• 2nd segments indented with lowercase start?  Check.
• Enjambment? Check.
• ABAB rhyme pattern?  Check.

Here's how I showed the layout in my notebook before I started writing:

- / - / - / - / A
         - / - / B
- / - / - / - / A
         - / - / B

- / - / - / - / C
         - / - / D
- / - / - / - / C
         - / - / D

- / - / - / - / E
         - / - / F
- / - / - / - / E
         - / - / F

As with all poetry forms--feel free to break the rules.

I can't.  Because puzzle.

But you could.

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