LaCalma

A form created by Laura Lamarca in June, 2015.

  • Form description:
  • rhyme scheme aaa,bB,cc,dd,bB.
  • 8 syllables per line in iambic tetrameter.
  • 11 lines per stanza. 3 stanzas (33 lines) total.
  • Content must be nurturing, spiritual.

Lamarca’s Example

Form: LaCalma

[Untitled]

Please take this gift to give you hope
and then, in walking, you will cope
without that weight hung on life’s rope.
You are not on your path alone,
there’s two of us on this stroll home,
towards that light which beckons us
amongst those bright stars, just because
it’s where our spirits choose to hide
when human needs have leaked inside
our solid selves of blood and bone.
There’s two of us on this stroll home.

Please take this gift to give you peace
a languid smile, a soft release
so trauma, on your path, will cease.
We do not walk this way with dark,
there is a ray…a lasting spark–
a warm embrace, a lazy kiss
a reason why we walk like this…
as fallen few and guiding lights
we bring lost “feel” on deepest nights
and though we leave no sign or mark
there is a ray…a lasting spark.

Please do not walk without me near
do not begin this road with fear
for to true selves we must adhere
as life clings on to our firm feet,
we must go on, our goals complete.
Raze brambles from our disarray
remove the stains that just can’t stay.
and if you find yourself alone
then don’t fret dear, I’m coming home…
this world shall not, us both, defeat
we must go on, our goals complete.

My Example

Form: LaCalma

No Village Needed

The kids have gone, they’ve left the nest
and now, we thought, we’ve time to rest
that is so wrong; you might have guessed.
The kids move back, the grandkids too –
like me, they want to be near you.
As grandpa now I have my fun –
the pampering has just begun.
The parents change the diapers now
(but grandpa still remembers how)
They like your cooking, that is true –
like me, they want to be near you.

Economy these days does suck,
so with parents some kids are stuck
for grandkids though that is good luck.
They get to live a life that’s swell
Gramps chose his wife so very well.
Papa is constant source of fun
but Grandma is the careful one.
She keeps their enegy constrained
when grandpa acts like he’s untrained;
he knows she will, and you can tell,
Gramps chose his wife so very well.

When a step-niece who grew up wild
became involved and had a child
though there were tears, still Grandma smiled.
Rescuing people was her way
and Grandma does that to this day.
Extended families grow unbid
from thoughtless things teenagers did
yet somehow someone up above
assures the unbid will find love.
Dispensing love is just her way
and Grandma does that to this day.

© Lawrencealot – June 10, 2015

Visual template:

At the time I composed this poem, and template, the form had not yet been named. Since I had to call it something for filing purposes, I called it the Lamarkable, I have since found that Laura named it LaCalma.

Abhanga Poetry Form

Abhanga
There are not many verse forms whose names begin with the letter A.  The abhanga is a Marathi form, Marathi being one of the major languages of India. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and is also spoken in several neighbouring states in the west of the country, including Goa and Karnataka. 
The form is simply described: four lines, with syllable counts of 6, 6, 6, 4, and lines 2 and 3 rhyming.
Thanks to Bob Newman for this wonderful resource.
 
Abhanga, “the completion” is a stanzaic form commonly used for devotional poetic composition although it has also been used for cynicism, satire and reflective moods. It was popular from the 13th thru 17th centuries Marathi Region of India and is described as complex and classic.
The Abhanga is:
  • stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains (4 line stanzas).
  • syllabic, 6/6/6/4 syllables each
  • rhymed L2 and L3 rhyme. Often internal rhyme is employed. End rhyme scheme x a a x , x being unrhymed.
Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for this wonderful resource.
Rhyme pattern: xaax
 
Example Poem
 
Nurturer     (Abhanga)
When life it brought into
our world with woman’s pain
before the child’s refrain
sends it away
the nurturing begins
with boys and girls, and yes,
with men we must confess.
The woman builds.
When this small fact is found
to be untrue, then what?
Then you’ve defined a slut,
female, that’s all.
The care and love rendered
describe a woman’s ilk.
Their touch is soft as silk
but strong as glue.
As aging wrinkles up
my face, I’m satisfied
a woman’s by my side
and she has cared.
© Lawrencealot – November 26, 2013

 
 
Visual Template
 
 

Jue Ju

Storyline(jue ju)
This is Chinese style poetry
jue ju—– the curtailed or frustrated verse, does not mean to tell a story but to create a mood. It does in the most frugal way imaginable, and with a high tone. The impression one gets is much like that from a symphony orchestra where a solo instrument takes up the theme. A jue ju has only four lines of five or seven syllables each.
Jue Ju (curtailed or frustrated verse) is one of the oldest of the Chinese patterns and in the 3rd century AD the Jue Ju was very popular. It often carried “suggestively erotic themes”. It does not tell a story but attempts to create a mood.
The basic rhythmic unit of Chinese poem is the single character (zi), which is pronounced as one syllable. In English the word represented by the character might be more than one syllable. Originally the Jue Ju was composed in 5 character lines. By the Tang era, 8th century it had evolved to a 7 character pattern and became fundamental to Chinese poetry.
The Jue Ju is:
  • metered, 5 or 7 character or word lines. (lines should be same length)
  • composed of 4 lines.
  • often erotic.
  • compared to Western poetry could be considered terse and compressed. 
    秋月 () 
    清溪流过碧山头,空水澄鲜一色秋;
    隔断红尘三十里,白云红叶两悠悠。Autumn Moon by Cheng Hao translated by Xiao-zhen aka worm, Nov 6,2009
    Over green hills a limpid brook flows
    Sky mirrored in the water of autumn hue
    Away from the distant earthly world
    Maple leaves and velvet clouds leisurely float
    “The Autumn Moon, a seven-character-‘cutshorts’ (jue ju), was composed by an ancient Chinese poet Chen Hao (1032–1085), a philosopher of Northern Song Dynasty. No line of the poem touches the autumn moon, but it shines every line.” ~~Xiao-zhen aka worm
     
    pillow woman by judi Van GorderRaven strands of silk tangle
    and spread over her pillow.
    With soft eyes, pleasure waits
    white curves stretch upon futon.
Thanks to Judi at PMO.
Example Poem
Steady breathing warms my neck
laughing at winter’s cold assault.
My thighs touching your curves;
winter coldness overcome by warmth.

Jram

Jram form Invented by LilacThOughts of Allpoetry.com.
Stanzaic: 5 quatrains.
Isosyllabic:  10  or 8 syllables to each line
Rhyme scheme: aabb bbcc bbdd aadd aaff  (aabbbbccbbddaabbaaff).
The last line of 1st stanza becomes 1st line of second stanza
Refrain: 3rd line of 1st stanza becomes 1st line of 3rd stanza
2nd line of 1st stanza becomes 1st line of 4th stanza
1st line of 1st stanza become 1st line of 5th stanza
Meter: optional by the poet, Iambic Pentameter works well
This form may also be used with tetrameter
as a poetic option.
Example Poem
Poets’ Love
Our poems relieved a certain unrest.
We drove each other to produce our best.
Though verse we lived where neither still could go.
Within our verses we did make it so.
Within our verses we did make it so.
We’d sail on yachts and sip of fine Bordeaux.
Tall peaks were climbed and pleasant valleys crossed.
We found adventure, and our fears were lost.
Though verse we lived where neither still could go.
We crossed desserts and mountains capped with snow.
Ignoring barriers thwarting us in life,
By-passed, surmounted without any strife.
We drove each other to produce our best.
We strolled thru poem forms as though possessed.
We thought a lot alike and loved to share.
I felt alone at times she wasn’t there.
Our poems relieved a certain unrest.
We soothed each other during times of stress.
When things became too much for her to bear.
I only hoped it mattered I was there.
© Lawrencealot – September 15, 2013
Visual Template

Jram

MLou Quintet

This form was invented by Mary Lou Healy, aka, MLou at Allpoetry
Each Stanza has the following form:
Line 1, 5 feet;
Line 2, 3 feet;
Line 3, 4 feet;
Line 4, 3 feet;
Line 5, 4 feet.
(5/3/4/3/4)
As many quintet stanzas as preferred,
rhyme scheme: ababa  cdcdc  efefe  ghghg  etc.
Example Poem
My Wife
While I sat pondering, “What shall I write?”
my thoughts turned to my wife.
Of course she is my warmth at night-
adds color to my life,
but still those claims seem much too trite.
Her common sense exceeds one’s proper share.
No problem she has faced
has gone unsolved; now that is rare.
She finds what I’ve misplaced
and tends to all with loving care.
She thinks that even at my age I’m fine,
and though I don’t agree
(I think my faults are still benign)
she does put up with me
and populates my life’s design.
© Lawrencealot – September 24, 2012
Visual Template