Journal x

The Oprihory form was created by Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory. It is a free-verse poem combined with the idea of prose. It is written with both personal feelings and observations, thus being written with at least five (5) "Note To"s and ten (10) "Dear"s.  Example: Note to Self  after Jon Sands You haven’t earned the right to break. Get yourself together. Note to the man who broke me: get the fuck out of my poems. Note to my poems as of late: you smell too much like sunrise to be a rude awakening. Note to awakenings: you look better on Virginia Woolf. Note to Virginia Woolf: scientists have officially proven the existence of death by heartbreak. You never needed the water. Dear water: I sometimes worry that we are an Oedipus Complex waiting to happen. Dear Oedipus: If 3’s the charm, then why do you die at the end of the trilogy? Dear Trilogy: 9’s my lucky number. Try that on for size. Dear Size: stop making molehills out of mountains. Note to mountains: I’ve conc...

The Shadow Sonnet was created by  Amera M. Andersen , may be written in any sonnet style. The Shadow takes place at the beginning and ending of each line as the words are identical or homophonic. Since all poetry was originally meant to be sung or recited out loud, homophonic words are acceptable, these are words that sound alike such as “see and sea”. (Rules: 14 lines, 9 or 10 syllables per line. The poem should have a volta or pivit; iambic pentameter is not necessary.) Example #1: Spirit to Spirit So many things have turned my spirit so. Yet I do resist and yield to it yet. Know that I give my strength for you to know. Forget you? Nay, I shall never forget. Left with my sandpaper dreams since you left. Love lies in my spirit, for you my love. Theft of your presence is not spirit theft. Above all my dreams, I hold you above. You now have returned, I knew it was you. Waiting so long as my heart was waiting; few have returned, yet you're one of the few. Aching for you as my...

Rictameter is a scheme similar to Cinquain. Starting your first line with a two syllable word, you then consecutively increase the number of syllables per line by two. i.e.  2, 4, 6, 8, 10  Then down again,  8, 6, 4, 2  Making the final line the same two syllable word you began with. Example #1: Beauty Solemn beauty Decorates you with kiss Freed just once of its bridled tongue Confessing shame at its unworthiness To e'er have loved or touched your grace To e'er have looked upon That face which is Beauty Copyright © 2000 Jason Wilkins

Line Messaging is a poetry form created by  Angel Favazza  is a poetic form wherein the poet utilizes the last line of each stanza to help represent an overall idea. So if the last line of each stanza is read together (separately from the poem) it will have an independent message or be a poem all on its own. Example #1: Untitled I, a mere woman; yet of mind and heart, walk alone past the cemetery gates. Reaching out to touch the crude, dim metal a glorious thought takes me— I stand still for my heart can walk no more and the vital force within my breast grieves with the knowledge of a youth now faded. Submit; succumb to this sublime graveyard, beyond the sorrow of generations gone. Independent flowers mock the very ground from which they rise; Inspiration grows within me. Copyright © 2009 Angel Favazza

Cascade, a form created by  Udit Bhatia , is all about receptiveness, but in a smooth cascading way like a waterfall. The poem does not have any rhyme scheme; therefore, the layout is simple. Say the first verse has three lines. Line one of verse one becomes the last line of verse two. To follow in suit, the second line of verse one becomes the last line of verse three. The third line of verse one now becomes the last line of verse four, the last stanza of the poem. See the structure example below: a/b/c, d/e/A, f/g/B, h/i/C Example I laugh hard at the poor butcher, With scarlet hands and crimson eyes, He smiles as he cuts away. They gather around him everyday, "unholy killer" they all scream. I laugh hard at the poor butcher. Deaf towards the plea of all, the buther's fate was long written with scarlet hands and crimson eyes. Children cry amidst the crowd, a mother faints, another screams. He smiles as he cuts away.

A Rondeau is a French form, 15 lines long, consisting of three stanzas: a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet with a rhyme scheme as follows:  aabba aabR aabbaR.  Lines 9 and 15 are short - a refrain (R) consisting of a phrase taken from line one. The other lines are longer (but all of the same metrical length). Example #1: Springtime Air Come follow me, I'll lead you where The days are fine and nights are fair; Where fields of clover, lush and green, Will visit you within this scene -- As March inhales the springtime air. So come with me and we shall share The freshness springtime can ensnare, As fields of flowers thus convene.-- Come follow me... Springtime's approach to which we're heir Will bring about winter's repair, Where we shall witness sights serene And glory in that to be seen. No other season can compare. Come follow me... Copyright © 2004 Dan Tharp

A Monorhyme is a poem in which all the lines have the same end rhyme. Example #1: Late for Class I realized it was half past four When I, quite late, ran out the door. My history class I so abhor, But I missed two sessions the week before. I failed a test on ancient lore And forgot the date of the Second World War. (Man, my brain was really sore.) Up the marble stairs I tore, And slid across a just-mopped floor: I banged my knee and loudly swore, To wake -again- at half past four! These nightmares I can stand no more... Copyright © 2001 Dendrobia

A Quatrain is a poem consisting of four lines of verse with a specific rhyming scheme. A  few  examples of a quatrain rhyming scheme are as follows: #1) abab #2) abba -- envelope rhyme #3) aabb #4) aaba, bbcb, ccdc, dddd -- chain rhyme Example #1: Lord of Deceit Trapped within a haze of fear, The Lord of Lies does appear. Clouded by so much that’s wrong, Truth gets twisted by his song. Turning love and joy to pain, Hidden by the falling rain. Tragedy becomes the norm When hate and fear begin to form. Hurtful lies tear lives apart And cause more harm to a heart. Once the pain and hate begin, Nothing is the same again. Once the lie has been revealed, Secrets are no more concealed. Then the healing can undo What he has done unto you. Once the healing has begun, Love and happiness have won. With the truth, you can defeat The spiteful Lord of Deceit. Copyright © 2000 Theresa King

A Villanelle is a nineteen-line poem consisting of a very specific rhyming scheme:  aba aba aba aba aba abaa . The first and the third lines in the first stanza are repeated in alternating order throughout the poem, and appear together in the last couplet (last two lines). One of the most famous Villanelle is "Do not go Gentle into that Good Night" by Dylan Thomas. Example #1: Runaway Why do they runaway? My soul so beautiful, so bright But for some reason I keep them at bay Sometimes I wish they would stay They give up on me without a fight Why do they runaway? Some think I am pretty, I say I'm okay Though this doesn't feel right But for some reason I keep them at bay What can I do, what can I say? What causes their flight? Why do they runaway? Just when I think I've won their heart, they stray I feel like the farthest planet in the night But for some reason I keep them at bay What have I done to chase them away? My soul beckons to them like a beacon ...

The pantoum consists of a series of quatrains rhyming  ABAB  in which the second and fourth lines of a quatrain recur as the first and third lines in the succeeding quatrain; each quatrain introduces a new second rhyme as  BCBC, CDCD . The first line of the series recurs as the last line of the closing quatrain, and third line of the poem recurs as the second line of the closing quatrain, rhyming  ZAZA . The design is simple: Line 1 Line 2 Line 3 Line 4 Line 5 (repeat of line 2) Line 6 Line 7 (repeat of line 4) Line 8 Continue with as many stanzas as you wish, but the ending stanzathen repeats the second and fourth lines of the previous stanza (as its first and third lines), and also repeats the third line of the first stanza, as its second line, and the first line of the first stanza as its fourth. So the first line of the poem is also the last. Last stanza: Line 2 of previous stanza Line 3 of first stanza Line 4 of previous stanza Line 1 of first stanza Example...

Haiku: Haiku (also called nature or seasonal haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables  (5, 7, 5)  or 17 syllables in all. Haiku is usually written in the present tense and focuses on nature (seasons).  Example #1: Pink cherry blossoms Cast shimmering reflections On seas of Japan Copyright © Andrea Katauta: an unrhymed japanese form consisting of 17 or 19 syllables. The poem is a three-lined poem the following syllable counts:  5/7/5  or  5/7/7 . The Katauta form was used for poems addressed to a lover. A single Katauta is considered incomplete or a half-poem, however, a pair of katautas using the syllable count of 5,7,7 is called a  sedoka . Example #2: Touch By milky moonlight your silky skin upon mine ignites a great desire. Copyright © 2012 Marie Summers Sedoka: A Sedoka, (pair of  katauta )  as a single poem, may address the same subject fr...

The poetry form, Etheree, consists of  10  lines of  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10  syllables. Etheree can also be reversed and written  10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 . Get creative and write an Etheree with more than one verse, but follow suit with an inverted syllable count. Reversed Etheree:  10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Double Etheree:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 9, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Example #1: Anonymous Solitude She’s inclined to want more to ease her mind than do you or I. She disappears to find anonymous solitude. We look for it, but we are blind. Left behind, we become mere figments of her illusions; . . . . we call her unkind. Copyright © 2003 Andrea Dietrich Example #2: The Lair Where haze invades iniquitous corners; raucous music saturates the room, the Ecstacy-induced twining of hot, pulsating bodies, a mimicry of mass lewd copulation, slows the thick air; emptiness stifles me. Copyright © 2003 Andrea Dietrich ...

Acrostic Poetry is where the first letter of each line spells a word, usually using the same words as in the title. Example #1: Heartbreaking H e broke my heart E very piece, shattered A ll I wanted was his love R eal, as he promised T rue, as mine for him B ut he walked away R ight in the middle of paradise E very beat of my heart A ches for his love K eeping the flame aglow I will wait by the light N ever losing the hope G od will send him back to me Copyright © 2000 Jody Kuperavage. Example #2: Shadow Poetry (Double Acrostic) S ummers’ gifts of sensational feeling s , H eaping happiness in poets’ pat h A warding praises for poetic dat a D oses of episodes, where live d O riginal thoughts; orgasmic temp o W eavers of words; morning’s de w P rosing spewing from every li p O peretta unions, written in sol o E nergy of many, sharing lov e T ears touching every hear t R ivalry forgotten, visions clea r Y ou and I spreading peace and jo y Copyright © 200...