A Collection of Words

135,659 poems read


I have begun to submit some of my work to some magazines and poetry fellowships. I hope to become published elsewhere soon. 

 I am studying some experimental forms, and working on some original forms of my own. I encourage new poets to try the classical forms, its a wonderful way to learn to discipline your writing and your thoughts.I have included some links below for your perusal.


I enjoy studying many different forms of poetry and use them here. I also write prose and short stories. Some of the work I have posted here are excerpts from other projects that had a certain poetic quality and so I have included them here among my more traditional poems.


Sestina

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5792

A poem consisting of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy. The end words of the first stanza are repeated in varied order as end words in the other stanzas and also recur in the envoy. This is quite a challenging form.


prose poem

The poetic prose composition: a piece of creative writing that has the structure of prose but the style and language of poetry


Etheree Form:
The Etheree is a ten lined poem written with a specific syllable count. Normally non-rhyming.

Double Etheree is done by starting with either ten syllables and going down to one...then starting with one syllable...and going up to ten. This makes a lovely hourglass design on the page, or a diamond...both are very pretty.
I discovered the etheree form here on poetry poem!

Form:
Line 1 - 1 syllable
Line 2 - 2 syllables
Line 3 - 3 syllables
Line 4 - 4 syllables
Line 5 - 5 syllables
Line 6 - 6 syllables
Line 7 - 7 syllables
Line 8 - 8 syllables
Line 9 - 9 syllables
Line 10 - 10 syllables


Villanelle
A 19-line poem consisting of five tercets and a final quatrain on two rhymes. The first and third lines of the first tercet repeat alternately as a refrain closing the succeeding stanzas and joined as the final couplet of the quatrain.

This is a very challenging form. I am just beginning to practice it. One must really contemplate the subject matter of the work before hand. The reapeating lines must form a cohesive bond through out the piece.

Tanka and Haiku
Hakiu is done with three lines and a strict 5/7/5 syllable count.
Tanka is done using five lines using 5/7/5/7/7 count.

These two ancient forms are wonderful to help one learn discipline, and to bring an idea to a very fine point. The simplicity of the form is also its most challenging aspect. The writer is compelled to use the most powerful words in their arsenal to bring about a feeling as well as an immersive experience for the reader.

Below are some good links for those of you who may be interested in exploring this and other forms. I have found these to be very enjoyable.

http://www.cranberrydesigns.com/poetry/haiku/history.htm

http://www.americantanka.com/about.html

http://poetry-magazine.com/poetry/poetry-009/08page.htm

http://www.poemofquotes.com/articles/poetry_forms.php