Both of my usual poetry haunts have interesting prompts today. The first is Poetic Bloomings In-Form Poet Prompt: The Musette.
This form is one I’ve never seen, must less utilized, but I like the trickiness of it and how the poet must twist and turn to make what she wants to say follow the dictates of the form. As with many forms, this one appeals to certain subjects. Inspirational designs work well, I think, with this one.
The Musette
3 verses-3 lines each with rhyme scheme as follows:
1st line—2 syllables, rhyme a/b/a
2nd line—4 syllables, rhyme c/d/c
3rd line—2 syllables, rhyme e/f/e
Hero for the Taking
Once there,
He claimed a soul
Laid bare.
Dark eyes
Saw man’s burdens,
Made wise.
Always
Gentle surcease,
Appraise.
# # # #
Poetic Asides Prompt #205 asks the poet to take the phrase “If I were (blank)”, fill in the blank, make that the title, and write the poem. I decided that since I had already worked in a form today, I might as well try another for this prompt. I chose the sequential form Fibonacci, with six lines of progressing syllable counts: 1,1,2,3,5,8 and double it with a reverse twist in the middle.
If I Were a Stone
One
Stone
Laid bare
To see stars
Lighting night’s sky dark,
With creation spread before me,
I could see home and
Know peace now
Before
Day
Comes.
Related articles
- New Year Wednesday (2voices1song.com)
- In-form Poet Wednesday – Musette (poeticbloomings.com)
- Forced Rhymes and How to Avoid Them (poetry4kids.com)
- Mid-Week Poetry Prompts (2voices1song.com)
- Musical Instruments in Poetry (paulmwenelupembe.wordpress.com)
- Why You Should Stay Away From Poets (alicekeysmd.wordpress.com)
- “W” is for Wednesday & Writing Poetry (2voices1song.com)
claudsy
Meena Rose
Thanks for posting the link to my essay. I’ve enjoyed my visit here and learned much about poetry from your lovely work.
Alice
You’re more than welcome, Alice, and thank you for stopping by to read it. Feel free to drop by anytime and sit for a spell. We have flash fiction and essays, profiles, and travel pieces. Now that the new years has started, we can look to posting more frequently than during the past three months.
Claudsy,
Thanks for your warm welcome. I just did my first haiku prompt and did a silly rhyming limerick for a friend. Are their prompts you would recommend for a beginner that knows nothing but is an eager learner?
Alice
Well, Alice there are many poetry sites out there. One of the easiest to access, with a terrific supportive group of regulars and hosts, is Poetic Bloomings at http://poeticbloomings.com/ Also there is Poetic Asides blog with Robert Lee Brewer on the Writer’s Digest webstie. He does a weekly prompt on Wednesdays and interviews with poets and the like.
Khara House, who teaches poetry at university level if I remember correctly, has a lovely site http://www.kharahouse.com/p/welcome.html where she has all sorts of activities and challenges, along with educational info. You can’t go wrong dropping in there. She has a small challenge going on right now that you might find fun. She’s a great gal and teacher. You could do well by tagging along with her for as long as you want. I would be over there now, but I have too many going on right now to accommodate another.
If you need any more recommendations, just let me know. I’ll be happy to help you find a few more places that I know about. Happy hunting.
Alice, as for specific prompts, an easy way to begin thinking in lyric/poetic terms is to get out your family photo album. Open it up and look closely at the first photo that captures your attention.
What is your first emotion upon seeing it? What memory does it invoke? It doesn’t matter if you haven’t written a poem before. What matters is putting your thoughts, your feelings down in response to what you’re seeing, remembering, etc. You can learn form anywhere. Learning to accept your feelings on paper and finding the words to express them is the harder task.
I hope that makes sense to you.
Claudsey,
Thanks for taking the time to give such thorough responses to my questions. You are a generous spirit. I will drop in on some of the links you gave. I like your idea of looking through photos albums. My little computer is full of them, every family pic from the past ten years. That’s a start. I like the simpler forms for now.;-) Maybe complex down the road. It all sounds so fun.
Alice
Hope you have a backup on that computer. I’d hate to see anyone lose all their photos. But I know what you mean about starting simple. Do as you need to do, for as long as you need. Explore, branch out, and have fun. That’s the most important thing.
You welcome to the info if I have it. No worries.
Of course. They make these things called external hard drives. One external with me here and another back at the house. Thanks for all your encouragement and support.
Alice
Good for you, Alice. Glad to hear it. I keep one at home and flash drives with me for downloading later. You’re welcome to encouragement here anytime. Have a great week.
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Great little place you have here. Thanks for the pingback.
I love this. Great work.
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