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.

La'libertas

La’libertas
The La’libertas, a 22-line (4/6/4/6/2) poetic form created by Laura Lamarca. The stanza rules are as follows:

Stanza 1 – rhyme scheme ABBA, 8 syllables per line.
Stanza 2 – Free verse, 6 lines ONLY
Stanza 3 – Rhyme scheme BAAB, 8 syllables per line.
Stanza 4 – Free verse, 6 lines ONLY
Couplet – Italian (Any language acceptable except English)

How the La’libertas for got its name is from the word “libertas” which is Latin for “liberty” and “La” is Laura Lamarca’s signature.
Example:
Gentle Kisses

Once wandered lonely world alone
‘neath skies that drenched in icy rain,
encompassed soul within its pain;
winds chapped fiercely, chilled and blown.

Soul grew old
in cold array,
displayed distress
in velvet vestige
& sorrows splayed
‘neath edges frayed.

Till hope gave warmth in ev’ry vein
and inner self escaped, now grown
from darker days of life once thrown –
it’s time for me to dream again.

Soul grew wise
in waking eyes,
surprised by
survival’s strength
& faith re-wrote
love’s antidote.

La grazia me ha benedetto con i baci gentili,
le ali delle libertà sulla mia faccia.

Copyright © 2007 Laura Lamarca

Pasted from http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/lalibertas.html

Being that I have no foreign language skills, this will be one of the few forms for which I have not posted my own example.

Restated Specifications

The La’libertas is:

a poem of 22 lines,
syllabic, having lines of 4/6/4/6/2 syllables
stanzaic, having 5 stanzas, 2 quatrains, 2 sestets, and a couplet
formulaic, mandating mixed rhymed, free verse, and non-English language,
rhymed: abba and baab

 

LaJemme

The LaJemme is a 5 stanza form created by poets Laura Lamarca and Jem Farmer.
Syllalbic:          10/10/10/10  8/8/8/6 8/8/8/6  10/10/10/10  10/10/10/10
End Rhyme Pattern:  abab cdfe gfdf hihi abab
Cross-rhyme required and interleaved rhyme required.
Expanded rhyme pattern:
 a(ab)(ba)(ab)(dc)(cd)(fe)(ef)g(gf)(fd)(df)h(hi)(ih)(hi)a(ab)(ba)(ab)
Where the first letter in parentheses is syllable 4, the second is end rhyme.
Meter: consistently iambic
As stated by the inventors:
Stanza 1, 10 syllables per line, Rhyme scheme abab, 4th syllable of each line is to rhyme with the end rhyme of the preceding line.
Stanza 2, syllable count: 8/8/8/6, Rhyme scheme cdef, with cross rhymes in each couplet on 4th syllable
Stanza 3, syllable count 8/8/8/6, Rhyme scheme gfdf, 4th syllable of each line follows the same rule as stanza 1.
Stanza 4, 10 syllables per line, Rhyme scheme hihi, 4th syllable of each line is to rhyme with the end rhyme of the preceding line.
Stanza 5, 10 syllables per line, Rhyme scheme abab, 4th syllable of each line is to rhyme with the end rhyme of the preceding line.
Note: I would have been much happier if the poet had required cross-rhyme in both short line stanzas, for sake of elegance and consistency.
Example poem.
Celeste     (LaJemme)
She comes some nights from mists beyond the sea
and sings to me the songs of sirens lore.
Notes float ashore in tones of upper C
that guarantee a mortal won’t ignore.
I’m driven then to leave my wife
and leave my life behind again
and simply go as lemmings do.
This much is true, you know.
The amber glow within her eyes
would not surprise a wizard though
they do bestow control that men
succumb to when they glow.
She uses me to quench her mortal thirst
and from the first I’ve risen to her game.
I cannot tame the fires for she’s well versed
and has rehearsed her wiles to much acclaim.
Her origin remains a mystery
It’s plain to see she’s easy to adore
and wanting more, to me comes naturally
I heed her plea and dance to her sweet score.
© Lawrencealot – December 19, 2014
Visual Template

Licentia Rhyme Form

This is an invented form created by Laura Lamarca.
This is an isosyllabic poem (all lines have 11 syllables)
It is stanzaic, consisting of five 12 lines line stanzas, (60 lines)
It is rhymed.  The Rhyme pattern is  AABBCCDDEEAABBffgghhiiAACCjjkkllmmAA etc.
It is a Refrain Poem with the nth couplet of the first stanza being the 1st couplet of the nth stanza and the first couplet is also the final couplet of every stanza.
Meter optional.
Example Poem
Environmentally Friendly     (Licentia Rhyme Form – almost)
“He sprinkled smiles to folks he met every day.”
Let those words, when he’s gone, be what people say.
A tree provides some refuge from heavy rain
his mirth provided escape from dull disdain.
A shopping trip or a walk was not worthwhile
if while about he’d not make some person smile.
His own good cheer was augmented without fail
if laughs arose from his own invented tale.
The thoughtless actions to which we all are prone
he overlooked, lest perhaps they were his own.
“He sprinkled smiles to folks he met every day.”
Let those words, when he’s gone, be what people say.
A tree provides some refuge from heavy rain;
his mirth provided escape from dull disdain.
A brief respite from the downpour bolsters one
with will to press on with what they have begun.
Though laughing won’t remove underlying woes,
it unpollutes the place where folk’s upset grows.
A friendly howdy do when it it’s not required
may spread along the day leaving some inspired.
He gives away his smile but before he’s gone,
you’  notice that there’s another pasted on.
“He sprinkled smiles to folks he met every day.”
Let those words, when he’s gone, be what people say.
A shopping trip or a walk was not worthwhile
if while about he’d not make some person smile.
A child too shy to talk will still tell his folks
that he had fun with that old guy telling jokes.
He’s pause for drivers anxious to push ahead
and choose a more distant place to parking stead.
He’d open doors for the ladies- (what a thought),
He behaved the way the kids of old were taught.
He figured gloominess was but state of mind
and helped all he met just leave that state behind.
“He sprinkled smiles to folks he met every day.”
Let those words, when he’s gone, be what people say.
© Lawrencealot – December 3, 2013
Visual Template
This is NOT a Licentia Rhyme From in that it does NOT have five stanzas.

 

A L'Arora Poetry Form

The A L’Arora, a form created by Laura Lamarca, is stanzaic, consisting of an octave made up of a sestet and a couplet.
It is syllabic with no count or meter specified.
The rhyme scheme for this form is abcdefgf.
The minimum length for the poem is 4 stanzas (32 lines or more) with no maximum length stipulation.
The A L’Arora is named after Laura Lamarca as “La” is her signature. “Aurora” is Italian and means “dawn” – “Arora” is derived from this. This form is dedicated to Chad Edwards.

Rhyme Scheme Re-Stated: xxxxxaxa, where “x” = no rhyme
My Example Poem

Simple, Not Simplistic      (A L’Arora)
 
My mentor mentioned making my attempts
at penning poetry as speaking to a friend.
The grandiose perhaps will awe a few,
the academics, whose investment
in obcsure even
may seem propitious.
 
The common man will find
pretention not auspicious.
Your poems should be fun or run with one
to ideas delible in reader’s mind
making them now indelible in his own
Arcadia.
Eschew condemnations, and benisons
but be exponent of provoking thought.
 
Let poetry maraud through newest  notions
and through concepts the Ancients may be taught.
Ignorance is pandemic
and helped along
by dogma,
the quintessential foe of reason.
If agencies are instrumental
in dumbing people down. . .
 
We poets and the world-wide net
is where new hope is found.
Confounding folks
won’t do the trick
Didactic rants
shall also fail,
but creative and probing poems
when free of condescension,
 
may lead the Exodus from apathy
and get the world’s attention.
 
(c) Lawrencealot – Nov 2013
 
I visual template is neither possible nor required.
 

RemyLa Rhyme

The RemyLa Rhyme Form, a form created by Laura Lamarca, consists of 4 stanzas. 
Each stanza has four lines.
 The syllable count per stanza is 8/10/12/8 and
 the rhyme scheme is abca defd ghig jklj. (abcadefdghigjklj)
The first word of stanza 1 must also be the last word of stanza 4. 
The last word of stanza 1 must also be the first word of stanza 2 and the last word of stanza 2 must be the first word of stanza 3.
Finally, the last word of stanza 3 must also be the first word of stanza 4.
J1, x, x, x, x, x, x, a
x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, b
x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, c
x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, A1 
A1, x, x, x, x, x, x, d
x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, e
x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, f
x, x, x, x, x, x , x, D1 
D1, x, x, x, x, x, x, g
x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, h
x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, i
x, x, x, x, x, x, x, G1 
G1, x, x, x, x, x, x, j
x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, k
x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, l
x, x, x, x, x, x, x, J 
Example Poem 
Cant Kick 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pants hanging around our butt-crack
We met, said “Howdy”, got a bit rowdy
We’d rather play street ball, bounding and bouncing here
than go to the gym or the track.
Track my progress and you will find
I’m a kicker- and no one is quicker.
I simply own this ball game when played on this block.
I’m double-teamed and I don’t mind.
Mind you that’s in this neighborhood.
Today we we’re aiming at taming foes
that kick a wicked ball in Homer’s home ground.
There’s never been a doubt they’re good.
Good enough to stand a real chance.
With me doubled and tripled we did lose.
A loss costs the losers a high-wire pair of shoes.
Next time it could cost me my pants.
(Lawrencealot – June 22, 2012
Visual Template

LaDán

This is a new form designed in June, 2013 by Laura Lamarca.
It is composed of 5 quatrain stanzas with varying length and meter, (20 lines)
but every line begins with an anapest foot.
This is a moderately  difficult form to write.
The requirements of the form in her own words  are:
Verses 1, 3 and 5
Rhyme scheme abab
L1 and L3 – 11 syllables, stressed syllables needed on beats 3, 6, 8 and 11
L2 and L4 –  9 syllables, stressed syllables needed on beats 3, 5, 7 and 9
Verse 2 and 4
Rhyme scheme baab
L1 and L4 – 9 syllables, stressed syllables needed on beats 3, 5, 7 and 9
L2 and L3 – 7 syllables, stressed syllables needed on beats 3 and 5.
MUST be a metaphoric poem, preferably dark and deeply emotive.
Rhyme scheme “abab cddc efef ghhg ijij” for the easy version (ababcddcefefghhgijij) or
Rhyme scheme “abab baab abab baab abab” for the more challenging version. (ababbaabababbaababab)
Example Poem
This was written for a contest to name the form, I thought LaAnapestia would have been descriptive, but my thinking did not prevail.
Liberty’s Tree     (LaDan)
Disagreeable though it may be my friends,
a time comes when men who are born free,
(as all are), must leave kings who won’t make amends.
They are kings because we let them be.
The untried Americans-to-be
who’d displayed recalcitrance
now displayed recognizance
of the threat to their own liberty.
As the spirit of patriots now depends
on the Jefferson’s and Paine’s to see
better ways to assure the power extends
to the common man, they write their plea.
They were radicals,  to disagree,
and they lacked the competence
to deny the providence
of the kings throughout our history.
It seems sometimes the voice of reason portends
a much greater change than taxing tea,
and revolution comes when man comprehends;
But it may cost blood from you and me.
© Lawrencealot – July 24, 2013
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Cinq Trois DecaLa Rhyme

A Cinq Trois DecaLa Rhyme
15 syllables per line
10 Lines
Rhyme scheme of aabbcccabc
Meter optional.
Formal poetic style by: Laura Lamarca
Example Poem

A Yellow Rose

A yellow rose to me is  like no other, nor can it be.
You told me of your hidden yellow rose before ever we
met and I thought then it something special you and I would share.
We did, and now they must flourish in bouquets and in your hair.
Their yellow brightness calls out exuberant and happy cheer
and their perfume never fails to invoke images of you, dear
While every rose is special, our shared preferance stands out clear.
Of course, it’s only because of you, that much I clearly see,
that yellow was promoted in my mind such that I’m aware
that all is incidental to the fact that your love is here.

(c) Lawrencealot – April 5, 2012

La’Tuin

The La’Tuin, a poetic form created by Laura Lamarca, consists of 4-line stanzas with an ‘abca, abca‘ rhyme scheme that is consistent throughout each stanza. Stanzas 2, 3 etc. must all follow the same rhyme sounds as the first stanza. With the first stanza being repeated again at the end of the piece (Refrain). It contains a minimum of 4 stanzas, with no maximum length limit.
A strict syllable count of 9/8/9/8 is required per stanza.
In-Depth Explanation of rhyme:
Lines 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16 etc., all rhyme – this is the ‘a’ rhyme.
Lines 2, 6, 10, 14 etc, all rhyme – this is the ‘b’ rhyme.
Lines 3, 7, 11, 15 etc, all rhyme – this is the ‘c’ rhyme.
The La’Tuin is named after A’Tuin, a giant turtle from the Diskworld series. A turtle is a symbol of Mother Earth. La is Laura Lamarca’s signature.  Rhyme scheme: A1BCA2abca…A1BCA2.
Example Poem
Many Ladies-in-Waiting   (La’ Tuin)
While wives of King Henry were waiting
Their turn to be axed or booted,
they had to abhor his penchant for
extracurricular mating.
Except for queen Kath’rine, the grating
was less, their auditions suited,
the king’s volition.  He wanted, more
of those young ladies-in-waiting.
Kath’rine loved Henry, while awaiting
her end, yet strongly refuted,
his demands.  I’m the queen, evermore!
…That seems as history’s weighting.
While wives of King Henry were waiting
Their turn to be axed or booted,
they had to abhor his penchant for
extracurricular mating.
© Lawrencealot – April 9, 2012
Visual Template

 

Lauranelle

A poetic form created by Laura Lamarca,
The Lauranelle – is a hybrid (variation) of both the Villanelle and the Terzanelle forms.
It is a stanzaic poem of 22 lines,  consisting of 6 tercets and 1 quatrain
ending with a refrain made up of lines 1 and 3.
Meter: Lines MUST be in iambic pentameter.
Rhyme scheme: A1bA2 bcb cdc ded efe fbf ggA1A2,  (A1bA2bcbcdcdedefefbfggA1A2)
Poems can either be formatted in stanzas or as a whole piece without line-spacing.
Example Poem
A Little Uncertainty Goes a Long Way (Lauranelle)
When we without a doubt accept as real
what we are told is settled fact about
most anything- we are enchained by zeal.
When pulpiteer delivers truth with clout
conditions favor comfort if you choose
a certain truth you need not think about.
Illusions pleasant though they be to use
as guideposts do not come without their cost.
Bestowed, our reason seems not just to lose.
No fact of science has proved settled long,
religion not at all.  That we don’t know
conditions maybe right- but maybe wrong
do not excuse intransigence in thought.
Mere beliefs deemed a truth worthy of war.
Absurd!  Is bellicosity now sought?
One outcome zeal promotes is hate.  The door
to human peace is open if all shout,
“Wait– I may be wrong Let us think some more.”
What one thinks is so simply may not be.
We may kill men for an absurdity.
When we without a doubt accept as real
most anything- we are enchained by zeal.
(c) Lawrencealot – June 27, 2012
Visual Template

Lauranelle