Category Archives: life

Piaku

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The Piaku form takes part of its name from the fact that the syllable count for each line matches the digits in Pi.
Form Type: Syllabic
Origins: American
Creator: Mike Rollins
Number of Lines: Unlimited
Rhyme Scheme: Not Applicable
Meter: Not applicable
Pasted from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi>
Rules
1. Each line must be the same syllable length as the digit in that location in the PI sequence.
2. Poems may be of any length.
Pi:  3.14159 26535 89793
Examples
The Storm
Flash, Rumble
Rain
Awesome thunder
Wind
The wind will plunder
As did the pirates from on yonder
Raid, fall
Damn! My ship is sinking
The water stinging
Quivering
The storm moves onward
I’m tired, I’m cold, I sink, I die.
Mike Rollins
The Rain
I say old
man ,
listen to that
wind.
Walking is no fun
on a night when horizontal rains
transpire.
Scurry to the back yard
hurry quick then lie
by the fire.
(c) Lawrencealot – January 22, 2013
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Purely Hopeful

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This form was invented by Jennifer L. Hedin, aka on Allpoetry as Pure_Hope
A Four Stanza form, with two quatrains enveloping two tercets.
The syllable counts and rhyme-pattern for each stanza is:
9/8/7/6: abab
7/8/9: cdc
9/8/7: cdc
6/7/8/9: fgfg
(ababcdccdcfgfg)
There is no metric requirement.
Example Poem

Camping Trip
“Dress for camping,” I advised, “Wear red.
So she put on a pencil dress.
She wanted me home instead.
Her ploy was a success.
I stayed home and was not sad.
I was I’ll admit, quite content.
Next time I said “Camping won’t be bad.”
“Dress in red.  Wear boots- You will be glad.”
She dressed in leather; time well spent
and wore the best boots she had.
Even though she brought rope,
Figuring to snare our lunch?
I stayed home again.  I’m no dope.
And there I enjoyed my honeybunch.
 © Lawrencealot – September 14, 2012
 
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Redondilla

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NOTE:I have included the definition from two different sources here.  The first specifies the minimum number of quatrains, the 2nd does not.
The 2nd requires that the meter be TROCHAIC, the first is indifferent.
Well, boys and girls – indifferent wins.  I spent some time on 5 different sites and found NOT ONE trochaic poem in English, and several that did not have FOUR STANZAS.
This is simply a poem consisting of four quatrains in tetrameter, preferably iambic  or trochaic.  The rhyme scheme can be aabb, abab, or abcb.  (Although some sources will advise otherwise, syllable count is secondary to rhythmic flow).  Most descriptions do not mention meter.  I have found in the English language most use Iambic and any rhyme scheme, even mixing them.  (An insult, in my way of thinking.)
redondilla, a Spanish stanza form consisting of four trochaic lines,
usually of eight syllables each, with a rhyme scheme of abba.
Quatrains in this form with a rhyme scheme of abab,
sometimes also called redondillas, are more commonly known as serventesios.
Redondillas have been common in Castilian poetry since the 16th century.
The word is derived from the Spanish redondo, meaning “round.”
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/494744/redondilla
Example Poem
Tropical Storm (A Redondilla or a Serventesio )
Surging currents falling rain
cloudy grey and gasping sky.
Seabirds leaving, wonder why.
Season of the hurricane.
Board your windows stock your shelves
Candles, girlfriend, water, food,
Stranded people making feel good.
Living, loving, by ourselves.
“Mom and pop are coming too??”
“Having to evacuate!”
“Gosh and gee that’s really great.”
“Your folks too? Least we could do. ”
Moms crochet by candle light,
dads play cards and guzzle beer.
You and I with bed in here
writing poems day and night.
(c) Lawrencealot – July 24, 2012
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Written in footless trochaic tetrameter.

Sedoka

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The Sedoka is an unrhymed poem made up of two three-line katauta
 with the following syllable counts: 5/7/7, 5/7/7.
A Sedoka, pair of katauta as a single poem,
may address the same subject from differing perspectives.
Katauta is an unrhymed three-line poem with
the following syllable counts: 5/7/7.
Example Poem
Getting Trained
Baby learning speech
“Lo, Papa”, points down to floor.
I look for object on floor.
“No, grandpa”, say mom.
The baby wants you closer
She wants you to “Stand there please.”

Sestina – Conventional

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The sestina (less commonly, though more correctly, sextain) is a wondrous strange beast, the brainchild of a twelfth-century Provençal troubador. It doesn’t use rhyme; instead, it has six keywords essential to the poem’s structure. The poem’s 39 lines – six 6-line stanzas followed by a 3-line envoi or tornada – all end with one of the keywords; in the tornada, there are two keywords in each line, one of them at the end and the other somewhere in the middle. It may all begin to make sense if we try an example.
stanza 1: 123456
stanza 2: 615243
stanza 3: 364125
stanza 4: 532614
stanza 5: 451362
stanza 6: 246531
This is the prescribed order for a sestina – at least, for an unrhymed one. (Yes, there are rhymed ones too. This is a variation dealt with later.) No deviation from this order is tolerated.
However, there are several different possible orders for the keywords in the tornada (“tornada schemes“).
The popular schemes are 12/34/56, 14/25/36, 25/43/61 and 65/24/31. Pretty well anything goes, really.
You’ll notice that each keyword appears once in the first line of a stanza, once in the second line of a stanza, and so on. You may also notice that the permutations of the keywords follow a regular pattern. It’s all a bit like bell-ringing. Or mathematical group theory, for that matter.
At 39 lines, the sestina is eligible for poetry competitions with a 40-line limit. (Perhaps they used to have a lot of those in Provence.)
The greatest thanks to Bob Newman of Volecentral for this.  His site is an excellent resource.
My Example
Forget Me, She Said ( A Sestina)
I forgot to remember you had left.
Your need to grow required that you must go
find space unoccupied.  I neither made
you whole nor satisfied your unquenched thirst.
“Just forget me; go play and have some fun,”
You told me, “You’re a prize for someone new.”
I’d never even wanted someone new
and still did not, once you had really left.
My love for you, I should replace with fun
and sparkle like a dandy on the go.
“Just forget me; let hotties quench your thirst.
You’ll be the grandest catch that someone’s made.”
Attempts to dissuade you were often made
for weeks while you sought something somewhere new.
But only total change could quell your thirst.
And memories were all that I had left.
Without sharia law you’re free to go
and with it, holding you would be no fun.
Then, for my boys, I dated, and had fun.
I was astounded by the progress made
as I was learning dating on the go.
Once my small son asked “Will she be our new
mommy?” At least he’d realized you’d left.
I began courting with a new found thirst.
Forever buoyed by an abiding thirst
for laughs enjoyed when shared, my quest was fun.
I laid my love for you aside. That left
a vacancy and soon fresh feeling made
inroads to my reluctant heart and new
responses sang as guilt began to go.
Your leaving forced me to let my love go
as death could not have done.  So, now a thirst
was normal and not faithless search for new
absolution perhaps just based in fun.
When not allowed to keep the promise made
New love was deemed okay because you left.
The fact you had to go was never fun.
I hope you’ve quenched the thirst inside that made
you leave. I’ve loved in new ways since you left.
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Sestina – Rhymed

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The Rhymed Sestina
The most important recognized sestina variant is the rhymed sestina, which was devised by Swinburne. Here keywords 1, 3 and 5 rhyme with each other, as do keywords 2, 4 and 6. The permutations are revised so that every stanza has the same rhyming scheme ababab. In terms of the keywords, the revised structure is:
stanza 1: 123456
stanza 2: 614325
stanza 3: 561432
stanza 4: 256143
stanza 5: 321654
stanza 6: 432561
tornada:  14/23/56
This is the structure that MUST be used if you write a rhymed sestina and
should NOT be used for an un-rhymed sestina.
Example Poem
Checking Your List       ( Rhymed Sestina )
I think today I’ll itemize our woes
then tomorrow I’ll pick out one to solve.
I can accomplish that much I suppose
if I approach the problem with resolve.
I’ll Itemize the problems in neat rows
then find the means to make them all dissolve.
All things that are soluble will dissolve.
If I can disassemble all our woes
I should find components we can resolve.
An ordered list is needed, I suppose
For surely world-wide problems I can’t solve.
I must therefore prioritize my rows
Put those deemed easiest in the top rows
A solution makes most all things dissolve.
A binding to insolubles makes woes
an aggregate resistant to resolve.
We must demote those woes I shall suppose
reserving strength for those we’re apt to solve,
Fixating on what we expect to solve
al lows us to dispose of early rows
and thus our will to win will not dissolve.
Our work will soon disclose imposing woes
Solutions will evolve, building resolve.
Some I’ll solve while in repose, I suppose.
I suspect there’s no reason to suppose
discouragement over those we can’t solve
won’t whittle our will, (and add to our woes).
Don’t add that to the list.  It will dissolve.
Wiggle your toes when progress slows on rows;
Think of Poe’s work or write prose with resolve.
Decide to ignore the list with resolve.
Some solutions one surely should suppose
will spring from things we’re not trying to solve.
At last unchangeables fill all our rows
World-wide differences will not dissolve.
Omit God’s will and nature from your woes .
I think the woes I know I can resolve
I’ll quickly solve forever, I suppose.
Concern for rows remaining will dissolve.
  © Lawrencealot – January 12, 2013)
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Slide Ballad

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This form was invented by Larry Eberhart, aka, Lawrencealot 
and dedicated to Victoria Sutton, aka, Passionspromise, inventor of the Slide Sonnet.
Slide Ballad consists of 6 or more quatrains in common meter
Rhyme pattern
xaxa
xbxb
xcxc
xdxd
xaxa
xbxb
xcxc
xaxa

The rhyme of first stanza to be repeated every fifth stanza, and as the final stanza,
Only the a-rhymes must rhyme in each stanza
Where the a-lines in the final stanza are made up of segments from
the preceding a-lines, see template and example
 
Feminine rhyme is permitted as exception to common meter.
(This is mainly and exercise form, without much to recommend it.)
Example Poem
Soldier   (Slide Ballad)
There was nowayhe’d fail to join
the fight, and stay and play
while others wore the uniform
and gave their lives away.
His parents’ view, was fearful but,
all hoped he’d make it through.
His Margie said “You’ll come back, Joe,”
I’ll wait until you do.
The war ground on, relentlessly,
’til many friends were gone.
Some missing limbs went home.  Some stayed,
interred ‘neath foreign lawn.
Joe suffered grave injuries twice,
from those who would enslave.
He returned to fight each time – saying,
“It’s not because I’m brave.
I want to stay until we win,
We shall ,I hope and pray.
I cannot set aside my role
while evil still holds sway.
He was the last left living now
behind the lines when fast
advancing  enemy took charge,
and then the battle passed.
‘Twas only he the farmer found
a live, but bound to be
a corpse if left. The farmer cared
with quiet dignity.
Another year elapsed; he healed,
and hid and helped them clear
their crops,  He learned some French and learned
the end of war was near.
There was no way to thank his friends
who’d risked their lives that way.
I’ll fetch my Marge, then we’ll return;
We shall ,I hope and pray.
  © Lawrencealot – January 8, 2013
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Tempo Composto

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Tempo Composto means “time’s up” in Latin.
A form invented by L. Allen Bacon, aka Allen a Dale of Allpoetry.
The first three stanzas of a “tempo composto” are made up of
1) A Spondee (DA-DA)
2) two lines of Dactyl (DA-da-da)
3) 12 syllables free verse.
The fourth stanza differs in that the final line is only
4 syllables of free verse.
The rhyme pattern is
a-a-x-x
b-b-x-x
c-c-x-x
d-d-x-x
Looks good centered, but that is not a requirement.
Example Poem

Ride in the Country
Roadside
countryside
Lemonade
For sale sign draws me in to find they have just corn.
Quite hot!
Day is shot.
I have got
no lemonade. Drive on looking for the next stand.
Need gas,
Still I pass
twenty-one
stations looking for fruit stand, then run out of gas.
Walk back!
Station sez,
Out of gas,
Got lemonade.
(c) Lawrencealot – May 30, 2012
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Terzanelle

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The Terzanelle is a poetry type which is a combination of  the villanelle and the terza rima forms invenated by Lewis Turco.
It is a 19-line poem consisting of five interlocking tercets plus a concluding quatrain in which the first and third lines of the first triplet appear as refrains. The middle line of each triplet is repeated, reappearing as the last line of the succeeding triplet with the exception of the center line of the next-to-the-last stanza which appears in the quatrain.
The rhyme and refrain scheme for the triplets is as follows:
ABA’ bCB cDC dED eFE fAFA‘ or
ABA ‘bCB cDC dED eFE fFAA’ 
Meter is Iambic Pentamter
Example Poem:
Simpler times   (Terzanelle)
The simple times remembered are worthwhile.
Those memories are treasured gifts to keep.
We were innocent and lived without guile.
        
Our curiosity was very deep,
inviting us always to be alive.
Those memories are treasured gifts to keep.
        
Adults have designed their plans to survive
we have a docket that precludes just being–
inviting us always to be alive.
        
Adults predispose and look without seeing.
Now  we can’t dawdle, we all must compete
we have a docket that precludes just being–
        
As kids, a mistake was not a defeat,
we had no agenda but just to be
Now  we can’t dawdle, we all must compete
        
Adults must relearn that gift, to be free.
The simple times remembered are worthwhile.
we had no agenda but just to be.
We were innocent and lived without guile.
By Lawrencealot, © 2012, All rights reserved.
 
 
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Ya Hoo

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The Ya Hoo is an enhanced version of the Yadu.
It was invented by Lawrencelot of AP
There are 1 to 3 stanzas, each with five lines.
Each of the first four lines have four syllables.
The last line has either 5, 7, 9 or 11 syllables.
The defining feature of this form is that it has internal staircase rhyme, as does the yadu, but unlike the yadu it has right and left staircases.
Also unlike the yadu, there is NO requirement that the poem have a theme about seasons.
Here is a syllable schematic of the rhyme required.
a.O.O.b
O.a.b.c
d.b.a.e
O.d.e.c
O.e.d—.c
Where “–” equals from 1 to 7 syllables.
Related forms:  Than-Bauk, Than-Bauk Poem, YaDu,  Ya Hoo.
Example poem.
Maybe Time, by Lawrencealot
Shine a dim light
of fine nightowl
sky;  white wine pour
for my poorgal. 
She’s sore. Why? I dunno but I see a scowl.
I could propose
then I ‘spose she
would close my night
out good, right?We
don’t fight. Should work for everybody.
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