Gemstone

This is a form invented by Lisa Morris , aka Streambed on Allpoetry.

  • It is a 32 line poem made up of four 8 line stanzas.
  • Each stanza consists of 5 iambic tetrameter lines, and 3 iambic trimeter lines
  • The Rhyme pattern for each stanza is ababccba (with independent rhyme)
  • Meter: Lines 2,4, and 7 are iambic trimeter, the rest are iambic tetrameter.
  • The form map is:
    • 8 A
    • 6 B
    • 8 A
    • 6 B
    • 8 C
    • 8 C
    • 6 B
    • 8 A

Streambed’s Introduction:

I believe this is a new form; if you know of it from somewhere else, please give me a link and I will include the information. It is named after the poem I created it for: “The Gemstone” below.

Streambed’s Example

Form: Gemstone

The Gemstone

She kept a gemstone hid away,
once given, at a ball,
because she feared her mother’s say;
she’d force the man to call.
She hid it in her silks and floss
beneath the chest’s enameled gloss,
and underneath it all
the gemstone there in splendor lay.

She took it out when nights were still
and held it to her breast,
which surely was the man’s first will
when they had kissed, caressed.
It felt so cool against her skin;
she wished for his strong eyes again
and then she was distressed
and paced before her window sill.

He said he’d claim her as his bride
before the year was out,
and on this word she had relied,
but now she had her doubts.
The heiress of a large estate
with many, many hearts in wait
and many gifts to tout
was seen with him, out on a ride.

She laid her trust down in the drawer;
the facets, too, were there,
and in her mind, she heard the roar
of dancing in his care.
That night might be all that they had,
and if it was, her heart was glad
the gem he chose to share;
for it too sparked within its core.

© Lisa Morris

My Example

Form: Gemstone

Chivalry

I chose to honor womankind
as Arthur said we must.
They may be common or refined
but chivalry they trust.
They often can and will beguile;
they were designed to make men smile.
They promise more than lust;
they nurture using heart and mind.

For man there ought to be one maid
eclipsing all the rest
and she need never be afraid
when he’s put to the test.
I’m a man who loves them all,
the thin, the fat, the short and tall;
mankind is so well blessed
with diverse beauty, so arrayed.

A young man is not always smart
when wooing just for sport.
He’ll take a trollop or a tart
and happily consort.
No harm is done to either one
if both agree it’s just for fun.
Take care! Do not distort –
nor trifle with another’s heart.

If chivalry can take control
and lead you through your life
you’ll play a noble happy role
completely free of strife.
You’ll grace the days of maidens fair
creating jealously nowhere;
you’ll please your chosen wife
thereby making two lives whole.

© Lawrencealot – February 15, 2016

Visual template:

Note the use of the acephalous (headless) foot in the final line. Although a volta is not mandated, line 7 seems the proper place should you choose to employ a turn.

Lakelet

This is a form created by Daniel Lake, writing on Allpoetry.com. I have provisionally named it the Lakelet, which is:

  • Stanzaic: Consisting of 3 or more sestets.
  • Metric: Each stanza consisting of five lines of iambic tetrameter and one line of iambic trimeter.
  • Rhyme scheme: abcccb

Lake’s Example

Form: Lakelet

If I Could Write

If I could write the perfect words,
Contained within the perfect line
That sets your mind to think again,
Embraced by love, encased by pain,
Enrapturing it’s sweet refrain,
So buried in its rhyme.

If I could write exquisite form,
That takes your breath and stills your heart,
To make you read and read once more
Each tiny vowel that you explore,
That you’d remember evermore;
A wondrous work of art…

But I am just a simple man
Who writes of love, or mystic birds,
Of summers sweet or winters snow
Or war and peace, or skies that glow,
Who strives to gain that high plateau:
If I could write those words…

© 2010 Daniel Lake

My Example

Form: Lakelet

Old Buddies

Although we both said that we’d call
and promised that we’d keep in touch
as routine fills our daily life
me with, and you without a wife,
we’ve settled down, and absent strife
we haven’t called that much.

If distance played a lesser role
we’d meet each other every day
to stimulate and satisfy
and obfuscate and edify
and simply bull-shit guy to guy
to pass the time away.

Our needs are handled where we are
and habits mostly seem worthwhile
and while a call is not a chore
it’s something both of us ignore
though each of us should do it more
because it makes us smile.

© Lawrencealot – July 30, 2015

Trichain

The Trichain is a poetry form created by Lisa La Grange, writing on Allpoetry.com.

A Trichain is:

  • Stanzaic: Consisting of 3 or more quatrains.
  • Metered: Each quatrain consists of 3 lines of iambic tetrameter and one line of iambic trimeter.
  • Rhyme Scheme: aaab cccb dddb …

La Grange’s Example

La Grange’s Example

Form: Trichain

Beautiful Mystery

At times the heart is plagued by pains
that bind like cold corroding chains;
it seems the torment never wanes
and nothing brings respite.

But then amidst oppressive fears
and cold depression’s streaming tears,
the mystery of love appears,
exuding dulcet light.

And then the chains of grief and woe,
are melted by its crimson glow
and misery is forced to go;
defeated by delight.

For love obliterates the gloom
of shadows that appear to loom.
They fade in beauty’s brilliant bloom
as flames of hope ignite.

My Example

Form: Trichain

The Girl and the Toad

While down a rustic path I strode
I chanced upon a tuckered toad,
who’d stopped still sitting in the road,
which seemed a dangerous place.

He let me take him in my hand
and when I spoke, it was unplanned;
I did not think he’d understand
although that seemed the case.

Within my head I heard a sound,
a mellow voice that did confound;
the toad, the only one around
was staring at my face.

“You are as pretty as they come
so sitting here was not so dumb,
If you will kiss me I’ll become
a prince with charm and grace.”

© Lawrencealot – July 5, 2015

Visual Template