Category: Form Notes

Haibun Notes

Featured ~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

Popular in 17th-century Japan, the Haibun is a combination of prose and a haiku. The prose and haiku typically communicate with each other. The prose sets the scene or moment and haiku follows.

Example

Well, Did You? by JezzieG

Did you hear me cry out in the night? As you loved me did you hear me cry out? Did you feel me kiss you in your sleep? After you turned out the light did you feel my kiss? Or was it a dream after we fought so hard to be the one in the right and not seeing the hurt in a lover’s eyes? Two stubborn minds and two thinking rights making the wrong. The heat of the argument drove your words to the moment you said you wished you and I were no longer us. And then I sat stunned on the floor as if you had hit me and I wished you had as it would have hurt less. In that moment you shattered my heart.

Fury and words
the acts of betrayal
caught in heartbreak

Katuata Poem Notes

Featured ~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

The Katuata is a Japanese form that is an incomplete or half poem. A 3-liner of either 5-7-5 or more commonly 5-7-7 syllables per line. The poem is specifically addressed to a lover.

Example

The Coryphée by JezzieG

The stage a canvas
To the brushing of her feet
As she paints the art of dance

Gwawdodyn Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 4 Comments

A Welsh form, the Gwawdodyn is composed of 4-line stanzas consisting of a 9/9/10/9 syllable pattern. Lines 1,2, and 4 end rhyme. Line 3 contains an internal rhyme with the end of line 3.

1-xxxxxxxxa
2-xxxxxxxxa
3-xxxxbxxxxb
4-xxxxxxxxa

Note: The “b” rhyme in the middle of line 3 can be moved left or right as required.

Example

Seagulls by JezzieG

Seagull cries over Cardigan Bay
Remembering all that fateful day
A spell cast by Dylan beneath the sea
Wave comes fast to steal away

Old man’s daughters taken out to sea
Dylan’s regretful deeds must then be
Returning to dad on a seagull’s wing
A man’s sad heart as now they fly free

List Poem Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 3 Comments

A List or Catalogue poem is a poem that is written that lists things of the poet’s choosing such as names, places, events, images, etc. It is a flexible and often fun poem to work on. There are no rules as to meter, rhyme, or poem length.

Example

A Glimpse of Beltane by JezzieG

As the breeze cools a summer’s day, as woolly clouds mingle in the sky
As the trees glisten in the evening sun, as the birds gather in song
As the scent of charcoal curls through the air, as the night beckons us in
As cups chatter with champagne flutes, as cake tastes better with tea
As memories are made in stories told, as conversations pass by the fire
As the May queen dances, as bells ring out a wedding day

Asinine (YDWP)

~ JezzieG ~ Leave a comment

Inspired by and written for Your Daily Word Prompt – my thanks to Sheryl

Definition: Asinine – adj. extremely stupid or foolish

Form: Etheree

her
smart-ass
words echo
across the room
like foolish laughter
I’m chasing a comeback
without thinking in reason
instant retorts that miss the point
as they tremble with sarcasm’s wit
perhaps I should keep my sarky mouth shut

©JezzieG2023

Waiting (Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge)

~ JezzieG ~ 3 Comments

Inspired by and written for Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – thank you GC and Sue

Form: Rhopalic Verse

the queueline lengthening
the waiting
it isn’t terrible
in sunshine
but raining
it isn’t wonderful
this waiting
for buses
the queueline lengthening
while bankers, redundant
are searching employment
can senses readjust
when closing another
branch
that isn’t sensible
the queueline lengthening
shelves empty disabled supermarkets
no supply
high demand
and prices continue
in raising
a crisis

©JezzieG2023

Dodoitsu Notes

~ JezzieG ~ Leave a comment

A Japanese form, the Dodoitsu was developed at the end of the Edo Period. It has no meter nor rhyme constraints, instead, the focus is on syllables. The poem consists of four lines with 7-syllables in lines 1, 2, and 3 and 5-syllables in line 4. The Dodoitsu often utilizes the themes of love or work.

Example

Smile of Enchantment by JezzieG

She walks by with elegance,
and beauty captures my eye
with a smile of enchantment—
I adore geisha

Rispetto Notes

~ JezzieG ~ Leave a comment

An old Italian form, the Rispetto is comprised of two quatrains written in iambic tetrameter or 8-syllable lines. They were originally poems written in respect or admiration of a woman, however, over the centuries it has offered itself for other subjects

Rhyme Scheme: abab ccdd

Example

Moonlit Gypsy by JezzieG

On moonlit nights she dances here,
her gypsy skirts that swirl with dreams,
my rhythmic dancer of heart’s cheer,
entranced by silver starlight beams.

My lute that plays a merry tune,
within our hearts, we sing the moon,
romance the music, lady dance,
the magic love that we entrance

Sicilian Sonnet Notes

~ JezzieG ~ Leave a comment

Structure: Octet and sestet
Meter: Tetrameter or octosyllabic lines
Rhyme Scheme: abababab cdcdcd

Example

Old Cassette by JezzieG

The first step into a new world
And time became a memory
As the beauty of love unfurled
Like words written in poetry
Into your dream my senses whirled
Thus enchanted by mystery
And in each new day becomes curled
In our magical history

Cherry blossom scent at sunset
While we sit by the fires of dusk
Watching you smoke a cigarette
White wine captured the moonlit musk
And sweet sounds from an old cassette
No more shall the night’s chill seem brusque

Family Resemblance

~ JezzieG ~ 2 Comments

Family Resemblance
Form: Free Verse

Sorting through
boxes of long forgotten letters,
and sepia photos, a flapper girl
with her cards offering to dance
a beautiful girl I never knew
yet it stopped me in my tracks
with a chill in my spine
her delicate features so youthful
I thought I remembered them
a slender figure dressed in lace
but I don’t remember that
her black bob framing her eyes
and I bet those eyes are grey
a boyish grin
yes, I recognise that
but were her lips a glossy red?
Eileen, 1926
my Nana
a beautiful girl
but I thought I saw my dad
and I thought I saw me

©JGFarmer2023

Delicate Kisses (Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge)

~ JezzieG

Inspired by and written for Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge – thank you, Sue and GC

Form: Quatern

This winter’s night when snowflakes fall
Soft, white, glistening in moonlight
And more follow as drifts begun
By delicate little snowflakes
They’re floating down on frosty air
This winter’s night when snowflakes fall
Loveliness of purity white
Swirling over the dirty streets
We step outside my love and I
Catching one or two on gloved hands
This winter’s night when snowflakes fall
Beautiful snow is our delight
As the delicate kisses chill
The snow making our faces smile
For dawn will bring fields blanket white
This winter’s night when snowflakes fall

©JezzieG2023

Rime Couée Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

The Rime Couée is a French form written over two rhymes. The first is a rhyming couplet of eight syllables then a shorter third line of six lines. The two couplets rhyme as do the shorter lines. This gives a form pattern of

xxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxa
xxxxxb
xxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxa
xxxxxb

Example

Butterfly Dance by JezzieG

Slowly feasting on petaled rose
Nature’s gift as the summer glows
She flutters through the pink
It’s on her wings her beauty shows
Black, white, and red that nature chose
In pink she’s dark as ink

A nectar morsel here and there
For her life is short and unfair
Pollen shared, she moves on
A brief career but does she dare
For one more day of grace to share
While flitting in the sun

Volcanic Fireburst Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 2 Comments

Created by: Jose Rizal M. Reyes
Structure: Three quatrains and a couplet
Meter: Pentameter or decasyllabic
Rhyme Scheme: abba ccDD eeDD ff, D lines are feminine rhyme

Example

Barefoot Youth by Larry Eberhart

In summertime I never would wear shoes
unless I hiked the rocky mountainside,
and nearly all my time was spent outside,
and shoes I’d choose most happily to lose.

My preference helped mother make ends meet
I felt no anguish playing in bare feet.
My family had its very own depression
and bought me shoes when school began its session.

I felt a pride in having feet so tough,
(it proved that I was made of sterner stuff.)
When roads of tar got hot there was no question,
I’d stand on them to make a deep impression.

My feet today have nothing wrong at all
though other parts succumb to aging’s call

Said It Out Loud

~ JezzieG ~ 6 Comments

Said It Out Loud
Form: Free Verse

before I understood
I was nothing much
and never anything worth thinking about
just a rhythm out of beat
playing the wrong tune
in a world of misunderstanding
that I would never fit in
ASEXUALITY
I said it out loud
and will keep saying it
for in that saying
I became enough for you –
enough to make ridicule
enough to degrade
enough to leave
I’m happy you left

©JezzieG2023

7:00 a.m.

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

7:00 a.m.
Form: Free Verse

The pulse races
when passions are liquid hot
not even your kiss can staunch the flow of lust
and the delicate pearls of sweat form on your brow
I know your hunger is melting too
I feel it bubbling on your lips as we kiss
you start to whisper a breeze on my ear
all I can say
“just kiss me, baby, just kiss me”
my body burning like molten rock
and coolness of your hands on my hips
your mouth sizzling down my bare chest
anticipation raging for the drag of your nail
over the fly off my jeans
my jeans
my jeans?
“you left them before you fell, babe
before you fell
you fell”
too late I am lost to your lips taking me in
into the depths of sweet penetration
thrusting
what the hell is that noise
piercing my brain without mercy
another plastic box shatters against the wall
damn you alarm
can you not let me dream?

©JezzieG2023

Descort Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 2 Comments

The main rule of the Descort poem is that each line needs to be different from every other line in the poem. Therefore the poem has varying line lengths, and meters, no rhyme, and no refrains.

Example

Turn of Season by JezzieG

No more daffodils sway in the lane
The spring has lost the dancing breeze
Replaced by April’s tears of rain
Frogs are courting by the slippery logs
Never asking more than a brief encounter
And as April turns to May
Dog bark in the green grass fields
Amid the budding dandelions
And yellow buttercups
And the summer begins to blossom

Englyn Byr Cwca Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

The Englyn Byr Cwca is a Welsh form utilizing both end and internal rhyme. Composed of tercets (3-line stanzas). Line 1 has 7 syllables, line 2 has 10 syllables, and line 3 has 6 syllables. Lines 1 and 3 end rhyme and line 2 rhymes with a syllable within line 3.

Example

Myth and Legend by JezzieG

I am the custodian
protecting courage in every part
the brave heart’s guardian

I’m the echoing legend
that speaks of the brave deeds of long ago
so, on me you depend

I am myth and memory
remembered in fireside tales told by bards
in shards of poetry

Espinela Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 3 Comments

Created by Vincente Espinel, a Spanish poet, the Espinela consists of two stanzas, four end rhymes over 10 lines. The first stanza is a quatrain and the second stanza is a sestet. Each line is tetrameter or 8-syllables. The rhyme scheme is as follows:

abba accddc

Example

Nights of Romancing by JezzieG

How I wish we could go dancing
Like we did in those olden days
Moving rhythm as music plays
In those nights of our romancing

Warm nights of summer entrancing
Enchanting love for you and me
Walking beside the starlit sea
Stroll back home; a bottle of wine
On those nights that were so divine
As we kissed setting our love free

Epistle Sonnet Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 8 Comments

Created by: JezzieG
Structure: Triplet, Quintain, Quatrain, and Couplet
Meter: Poet’s choice
Rhyme Scheme: aba abcde cdcd ee
Notes: The order of the end rhymes of the quintain are in any order, giving 120 variants.

Example

A Birth by JezzieG
Quintain – abcde

The sonnet for so long has echoed my voice
With words and lines my lips find hard to say
In saddest despair and love to rejoice

For the epistles it’s an easy choice
To let my own thoughts flow out in this way
Whilst testing out this, a new sonnet form
Joining the Rovi and Ivor as one
Twisting the rhyme scheme just one more time

And letting them mingle in a brainstorm
A triplet and quintet but can it be done
A quatrain and a couplet, that’s a norm
Just messing with the rhymes, I think I won

Now, the closing lines left to end this rhyme
And I have a sonnet mountain to climb

Elegy Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

A song of sorrow or mourning, the Elegy is often for or about someone who has died. However, poets being poets and just that bit contrary on such matters, have also written elegies for the end of something such as a love affair, a holiday, or even a year. Form, meter, and structure are not important, content is what matters.

Example

Silence of Twilight by JezzieG

In that cold silence of twilight
when the ashes of love faded
but never burned out
the moon rose in mourning
to ease my crying heart
as my eyes wept into the night
into the aloneness my life would be
yet as the sun rose in his golden wonder
I felt a warm embrace
reminding me I am not alone
for you will always be with me

Dechnad Cummaisc Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

An Irish poetic form, the Dechnad Cummaisc uses quatrains with both end and internal rhymes. The guidelines are as follows:

Each stanza consists of four lines
Lines 1 and 3 are 8 syllables each
Lines 2 and 4 contain 4 syllables each and end rhyme with each other.
The last word of line 3 rhymes with the middle word of line 4.
There is no limit to the number of quatrains used

Example

Cacophony of Discord by JezzieG

The night assaults all the senses
Crashing sublime
As beauty and terror collide
Waves ride and climb

Horror of tempestuous sea
Foreboding night
Elements dictating our fate
A date with fright

Sweeping clouds into the darkness
Of breaking ships
Of defeated broken remains
Wind strains and whips

The beams of light let them all down
Frantic scrambles
In the lost echoes of discord
Towards shambles

Towards boulders along the shore
Lightning strikes shocks
Storm’s aftermath revealed at dawn
Death on the rocks

Treetop (WWP)

~ JezzieG ~ 2 Comments

Inspired by and written for Weekend Writing Prompt – my thanks to Sammi

Form: Free Verse

where are you
I can’t see from the ground
with you hiding in the skies
but I will climb up
and join you for the view
while swaying in wind
making you leaves shake with a bustle-rustle
and it seems like you are talking to me
about the panorama of woods and fields
or perhaps you’re saying
it’s time to go down now

Word Count: 63

©JezzieG2023

Dansa Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

Created by Robert Skelton the Dansa which consists of an opening quintain followed by any number of quatrains. The opening line is also the refrain line and is the final line of every stanza including the first. There are no rules regarding meter, line length or subject.

Rhyme scheme: AbbaA ccaA ddaA eeaA and so on

Example

A Question of Time by JezzieG

How long will your warmth hold me in bed
While your gentleness grazes my skin
From evening until the sun shines in
Through the window of scattered dreams in my head
How long will your warmth hold me in bed

Frothy shaving foam slowly spiralling
Down like tears on my smooth skin
I miss your kiss it has to be said
How long will your warmth hold me in bed

The aroma of coffee and a day can begin
But nothing do will stop the missing
Or the memories of the love we led
How long will your warmth hold me in bed

And as the day’s done and night comes in
I kiss your name while sipping a gin
Not a day goes by when “I love you” is left unsaid
How long will your warmth hold me in bed

Beneath the duvet what a long day it’s been
As eyes close I feel you snuggle closer in
To love me again inside my head
How long will your warmth hold me in bed

Hands of a Sculptor

~ JezzieG

Hands of a Sculptor
Form: Golden Shovel

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read ~ Percy Shelley

In old stories I have heard tell
Of marvels in stone that
Speak of history and its
Mystery in the hands of a sculptor
The myths we know so well
Stories from the deep seas and those
From far off lands of strange passions
That in legends we have all read

©JezzieG2023

Deibide Baise Fri Tuin Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 2 Comments

The Deibide Baise Fri Tuin is an Irish poetic form that uses rhymes with mild swings in line length.

The stanzas are quatrains with a couplet rhyme scheme aabb. Lines 1 and 2 end on a two-syllable word and lines 3 and 4 on a monosyllabic word. Line 1 consists of 3 syllables, lines 2 and 3 have 7 syllables, and line 4 has 1 syllable. This gives the following structure:

x(xa)
xxxxx(xa)
xxxxxxb
b

Example

Constant Rewind by JezzieG

In darkness
With clarity and starkness
We see the light meant to be
Free

Of fashion
As senses breathe with passion
And the old words of romance
Dance

But instead
The past endlessly reread
A mind on constant rewind
Blind

We survive
But never to be alive
For love to be it’s too late
Hate

Cyhydedd Fer Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

A Welsh couplet form composed of 8-syllable lines and an end rhyme. Unusually for a Welsh poetic form, it is as simple as that. The couplets can be written as individual stanzas or packed together into longer even lined stanzas

Rhyme scheme aa bb cc dd and so on

Example

Rapture in Twilight by JezzieG

They called you Ra so long ago
Reborn each day in cosmic glow

From longest day to shortest night
I see your rapture in twilight

And does the earth now mourn with me
For you are gone so others see

Your golden clouds that gently wake
Your sleeping children at daybreak

My king of light and all things true
I pray their souls will honour you

Rhupunt Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 2 Comments

A Welsh form, the Rhupunt has some variability but is still governed by rigid form rules.

Can be written in lines or stanzas of 3 to 5 sections
Each section has 4 syllables
All but the final section rhyme with each other
The final section of each line or stanza rhymes with the final section of the other lines or stanzas

Example

Pwyll and Rhiannon by JezzieG

Old Celtic tales echo o’er vales Pwyll, prince of Wales called for one year
To take the place in Arawn’s space with foes to face, no time for fear

Enemies slayed he meets a maid and with her laid their wedding bed
A son was born from parents torn until the dawn of truth be said

Cro Cumaisc Etir Casbairdni Ocus Lethrannaigecht Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 2 Comments

An Irish form the Cro Cumaisc Etir Ocus Lethrannaigecht, despite its long name, is a four-line quatrain poem. Lines 1 and 3 consist of seven-syllables each and lines 2 and 4 of five-syllables each. Lines 1 and 2 end with a three-syllable word and line 2 and 4 with a one-syllable word. The rhyme scheme is as follows:
abab cdcd efef and so on

Example

October by JezzieG

October, sing devotion
Comforting my soul
Echo my heart’s emotion
Make my spirit whole

Tennyson-Turner Sonnet Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

Structure: Three quatrains and a couplet
Meter: Pentameter or Decasyllabic
Rhyme Scheme: abab cdcd effe fe

Example

The Edge of Love by JezzieG

Three words she said beneath the autumn moon,
and touched my soul with softly whispered sighs,
a breathless moment cast on mystic rune
my mind askew before my heart replies.

Above the Northern Lights where winter sleeps,
my joy can find no words to give my voice
as to her gentle kiss my spirit leaps
so shall my loving heart declare its choice.

The shining stars ascend above the land
are vaguely dimmed compared to love tonight,
within my heart I feel her words incite
my own; as on the edge of love I stand.

When in her eyes I see tribade delight
my fingers reach to slowly grasp her hand

Cyhydedd Hir Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

A Welsh poetic form, the Cyhydedd Hir consists of 4-line stanzas. Lines 1, 2, and 3 have five syllables each and line 4 has four syllables. Lines 1, 2, and 3 rhyme with each other and line 4 of the first quatrain rhymes with the second. Consecutive stanzas can be connected by the 4th line rhyme to create longer stanzas

Rhyme schemes
aaab cccb ddde fffe and so on

aaabcccb dddefffe and so on

aaabcccbdddb eeefgggf hhhijjjikkki and so on

Example

Elphin and the Boy by JezzieG

Fishing lines were bare
Heart filled with despair
But a child found there
So it shall be

Elphin’s heart so sad
And what of the lad
This child needs a dad
So it shall be

Taliesin by name
His brow shines no shame
His wisdom acclaim
So it shall be

And he speaks this lad
No fish, don’t be sad
What is yours be glad
So it shall be

I Know Him Well (WPWC)

~ JezzieG ~ 5 Comments

Inspired by and written for Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – thank you GC and Suem and my apologies I think this one got itself lost in my editing files

Form: Ottava Rima

A sense of fun lightens the day
Reading memes while drinking tea
Mixing work with a little play
Mischief making comes for free
Sparkling eyes give nothing away
Just who put salt in the tea
I look across at those eyes
The blood bond wears no disguise

©JezzieG2023

Assassin

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

Assassin
Form: Glosa

This tyrant may deserve a harsher end
as payment for his crimes, but
in this moment, the assassin
will love him none the less – Byron

Visitations brought by Karma
Are our destiny, our fate
Rewards for our deeds lavished
In the certainty it is what we have earned
It is not death that we have deserved
For we all must meet that demise
What comes after is the recompense
Too late to seek grace when dying, then
The time is up and what has been done is done
And how many will say
This tyrant may deserve a harsher end
Human judgement is mortal
And human punishments die with the judged
For the punished will face their crimes
With the joy of spirit denied by their living
And that is for destiny to decide
When the assassin, Fate, brings the souls
To be judged and found wanting
In death no penance can be made
And the tyrant has nothing to offer
as payment for his crimes, but
he will try screaming from his knees
empty promises as in life
passions and lust dispersed in offerings
but no sacrifice is left to be made
like all other bills it must be paid
not with money, power, or treasures
the eyes of destiny have no room for that
as they look away it is access denied
and Fate seals the deal
in this moment, the assassin
The end of the tyrant is nigh
for nothing will remain of his soul
a soul sold for riches and command
as he stood against sweet destiny’s truth
and he prays her blade will be swift
as Fate looks him up and down
one last time her eyes are cold
her heart drizzled by ice
yet in this moment of his spiritual death she
will love him none the less

©JezzieG2023

Swannet Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

Structure: Three quatrains and a couplet
Meter: Tetrameter or octosyllabic lines
Rhyme Scheme: A1bbA2 cddc effe A1A2

Example

Black Bird by JezzieG

The lord of prophecy and artistic word
Returning silent life to the war dead
Before he too came to lose his own head
The cauldron-god with wings of a blackbird.
For seven years foreseeing Harlech’s fate
And then four score and seven more in Gwales
In music, art, and song he shared his many tales
That traversed time and space to where we wait.
Bran the Blessed keeps the enemy at bay
They dare not venture cross the channel sea
So we may live a life forever free
Through distant times we remember today
The lord of prophecy and artistic word,
The cauldron-god with wings of a blackbird

Just Wondering

~ JezzieG ~ 7 Comments

Just Wondering
Form: Free verse

the good days with fun to be had
playing out until the amber flicker lit the street
and it was yours or mine for tea
there were bad days too
when we held each other’s tears
as secret pain was shared
all those days we said we’d never forget
but times have changed
memories faded yet still I hope
you are okay
then realise you are no longer the boy I knew
as like me you are completing
the sixth decade
we are both old now
you’re not the boy in red shorts
and I don’t have pigtails in my hair
and I don’t know the man you are now
did you marry?
have you got kids?
did you achieve your dream
and become a vet?
or perhaps you worked for Esso
like the other lads

©JezzieG2023

Clogyrnach Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 6 Comments

A Welsh form the Clogyrnach is a six-line syllabic stanza over an ab rhyme scheme.
Lines one and two consist of 8-syllables each, lines three and four are 5-syllables each, and lines five and six are 3-syllables each. Lines five and six can be combined into one line at the poet’s discretion

The rhyme scheme is

aabbba

Example

Radiant Brow by JezzieG

From the mystic valleys of Wales
He came to tell history’s tales
Of peasants and kings
And magical things
The Bard sings
Still in Wales

For Time and All

~ JezzieG

For Time and All
Form: Quatrain

I’ll not forget any of your moods
From the passive thoughts to noble rage
That freed your spirit from the body’s cage
For I feel them all when walking in the woods
But I’ll be jealous of death and what she took
In the license that is the cycle of life
But you were, no, are my wife
Yet I am sat alone by the babbling brook
And I know I have been truly blessed
By giving all that I am to you
In a solemn oath of love so true
For in you, my darling, I found my rest
And I will again when the lady comes to call
To bring me home to where I belong
Within your arms away from a world gone wrong
For my love is yours for time and all

©JezzieG2023

Contrapuntal Poems Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

Influenced by the music world, the Contrapuntal poem is composed of two or more poems intertwined to make one single composition. This is most often done by offering a line of poem A followed by a line from poem B and so on

Example

Two Quatrains of Autumn’s Contrapuntal by JezzieG

Two Quatrains

Bright red reflections
Golden highlights fluttering
Soon will come the gathering
Where squirrels scurry for acorns

Echo the rustlings on the cool breeze
Whispers of leaves awaiting destiny’s flight
As the trees surrender to autumnal call
Making ready for the winter’s rest

Autumn’s Contrapuntal

Bright red reflections
Echo the rustlings on the cool breeze
Golden highlights fluttering
Whispers of leaves awaiting destiny’s flight
Soon will come the gathering
As the trees surrender to autumnal call
Where squirrels scurry for acorns
Making ready for the winter’s rest

Bricks and Mortar

~ JezzieG

Bricks and Mortar
Form: Blank Verse

My heart so easily pleased – so they say
Too easily impressed by nothing much
When looking on but looking gets nowhere
Because my eyes were caught at the first glance
Long before my thoughts could utter some sense
My heart was taking over and in command
Too easily won, easily broken
With my mind was screaming I told you so
Each time I’m left with a brick of mistrust
Left amid the fresh mortar of my tears
Now the wall is built high my heart is safe

©JGFarmer2023

Cethramtu Rannaigechta Moire Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 4 Comments

The Cethramtu Rannaigechta Moire is an Irish poetic form consisting of quatrains (four-line stanzas). All the lines have three syllables and lines two and four rhyme giving the following structure

xxa
xxb
xxc
xxb
.

Example

The Cup by JezzieG

China cup
Held in palm
Simple taste
To bring calm

Peace of mind
When tears flow
Warming tea
Lets it go

And in joy
Perfect sup
And all this
From one cup

Chanso Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

Chanso poems adapt to the poet’s need and want. A French form, it consists of five or six stanzas with an envoi about half the size of one of the stanzas.

The length and structure of the stanzas is at the poets choosing, however, each line of the poem should have the same syllabic length and each stanza should be of the same line length and rhyme scheme.

Example

Wedding Photo by JezzieG

The love smiling on their faces
Their vow made for life and for time
A promise sworn in youthful prime
Unpacking honeymoon cases

Romantic Italian places
The memories of a lifetime
Their Venice kiss as the bells chime
A seal of love the heart graces

Such a love ticks all the bases
When living in the city grime
So country walks and mountains climb
For the quiet of peaceful spaces

Time passes; it leaves no traces
A disease committing the crime
Their love was running out of time
In death there are no embraces

The love smiling on their faces
Their vow made for life and for time

Chant Royal Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

A 14th century French form the Chant Royale is a 60-line poem that employs rhymes and refrains.

The poem consists of five 11-line stanzas followed by a 5-line envoy. The 11-line stanzas follow the rhyme scheme ababccddedE and the envoy ddedE making the final line of each stanza the refrain. There is no set meter but lines consist of between 8 and 10 syllables.

This gives the following schematic

ababccddedE
ababccddedE
ababccddedE
ababccddedE
ababccddedE
ddedE

Example

Screams of Light by JezzieG

Bright screams of light across the sky
Hurry, hurry get underground
Don’t ask, there is no time for why
Get underground as sirens sound
The screams of light are moving fast
Get underground before they blast
The city shaking again tonight
With children crying in their fright
And a babe wrapped in mother’s shawl
Stay underground and out of sight
Screams of light as the missiles fall

The strange forms of night chill the eye
Another child cannot be found
An innocent life’s left to die
Whispers echo beneath the ground
Just a name sent into the past
But this night will not be the last
More men are drafted into fight
Against the odds, against the night
For the innocent, they give all
For families, they left in plight
Screams of light as the missiles fall

In daylight see broken bodies lie
Victims whose names cannot be found
Yet by mass graves, the women cry
For those, they bury ‘neath the ground
For those for whom death came too fast
For those, whose shadows no longer cast
There’s no comfort in the daylight
Just ruins, a burial site
Empty boxes on a roll call
That seeped their blood into the night
Screams of light as the missiles fall

Every day no time to cry
Finding food within the compound
To carry on a day goes by
Before rushing back underground
No time to cry or be downcast
The war goes on and time is fast
The outside world that knows their plight
Does nothing for living in fright
They say it’s wrong, they heard the call
But they will not do what is right
Screams of light as the missiles fall

Night falls as once more sirens cry
Hurry, hurry get underground
As screams of light take to the sky
Soon the city will echo sound
Familiar now, just a blast
Lives lost to fade into the past
Proving points of power and might
But who is keeping score tonight
In death can it be proved at all
Bullying ways are no fair fight
Screams of light as the missiles fall

Innocent lives, it’s not their fight
And power doesn’t make it alright
Yet the world ignoring them all
Is as guilty as sin tonight
Screams of light as the missiles fall

After the Marriage

~ JezzieG ~ 2 Comments

After the Marriage
Form: Free Verse

her arms dusted with flour
shuddered with the passing years
as her fists pounded
and twisted the daily batch of dough
rolls to serve with dinner
and a loaf take shape
the kettle whistles
a cup of tea with the dough set to rise
she remembers the old days
the early days of happy ever after
just after she married her prince
when the days of domestic chores
became a memory
and they lived happily ever after
that was the traditional prediction
that didn’t see revolution
the evacuation to the small cottage
and she’s here back in the kitchen
making bread
and her price works in a factory
making the money to buy flour
and this is the real happy ever after

©JezzieG2023

Cento Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

The Cento is a poem comprised of lines and phrases from other previously written poems. This can be the poet’s own work, a specific poet, or a combination of many poets.

Example

Romancing with the Romantics by JezzieG

Beloved, speak to me again of love
tell me again
where fountains mingle with streams
and the winds of heaven mix
with sweet emotion
again tell me your philosophy
with images of kissings of the moon and sea
as with your divine words
you again kiss me

Beloved, dress me as your doll
cosset and dangle me in modern love
let your soldiers play with the hearts of my queens
hold me without reason or justification
in the sweet agony of your love
as it melts beneath the beaver hats

Beloved, let me walk in your beauty
be the day to my night
one more time lead me to dance
to the music of your gaudy light
where a single ray of sun
softly caresses the beauty of your face
as in your eloquence you tell me
of the days we spent chasing desire
and as you smile
set my heart to glow
for our love found in innocence

Resources for the cento

Percy Bysshe Shelley – Love’s Philosophy
John Keats – Modern Love
Lord Byron – She Walks in Beauty

Evolution

~ JezzieG

Evolution
Form: Free Verse

Life is a wonderful thing
the passage of time
allowing us to evolve
absorb events
accepting what happens
with a little patience and understanding
it all takes a bit of time
and an open mind

©JezzieG2023

Human Voices

~ JezzieG ~ 3 Comments

Human Voices
Form: Free Verse

They wait behind that closed door
concealing those prowling shadows
that whisper in human voices
softly whisper my craven name
with words that curse and crawl
upon the soul
gleaming eyes shimmering dishonesty
clamouring at the door
shambling sinews festering and furtive
twisting and churning
they are familiar yet unfamiliar
sensual mortality draped in immorality
softly whispering the echoes of fear

©JezzieG2023

Quintilla Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 1 Comment

A 16th-century Spanish Quatrain form the Quintilla is a quintet of eight-syllable or iambic tetrameter lines. The presentation of the rhyme scheme can vary but only two consecutive lines may have the same rhyme. For example

aabba

abbaa

abaab

Weight Watching Poets by Jez Farmer

Calories in everythin’
All add up to that fat or thin
You cannot eat that, you must eat this
A poet can rhyme that with a kiss
Are words therefore also a sin?

I wonder if I should cut
The endless cups of coffee but
I’d only drink my tea instead
I need caffeine to clear my head
To tighten up my lines somewhat.

A poet diets to shed those
Old clich’d words that oft disclose
Too much. Not enough is worse
It is a curse of written verse
Perhaps I should then write in prose

Endecha Notes

~ JezzieG ~ 2 Comments

A 19th-century Spanish form the Endecha is a quatrain stanza form. Lines 1, 2, and 3 consist of 7 syllables each and line 4 is 11-syllables.

Rhyme scheme: abcb defe ghih and so on.

Example

Impressions by JezzieG

Correspondents cover war
The battles caught up in strife
Pencils and paint show images
Artist impressions of bombs and loss of life