Poetic Form 65: Decima

 

From Ashes

She opens a shoe box filled to

the brim with letters she never

sent. He always called from Denver

when he needed to fight the hue

of loneliness his searching drew.

She ignites a match to penned guards,

letting pain burn the house of cards

down to the ashes staining her

spirit. “Love will not be deferred,”

she whispers, cutting free his barbs.

Poetic Form 65: Decima

There are various versions of the Decima poetic form. The form I used is popular 

in Puerto Rico. The form has 10 lines with 8 syllables per line. The form has the 

following rhyme scheme:

A

B

B

A

A

C

C

D

D

C

 

And Like That

And Like That

And like that

  a student from the past

    no longer has a future

A young man in my memory

    grown to be a farmer and family man

I remember 

    a boyish grin above

    a home jersey with the number 5

    an underclassman

    waiting for time to give him his chance

I would chat with him on the sidelines

    about the last play

And like that

I can see that smile as his bride walks down the aisle

I can imagine the smile he had for the birth of his children

Or the long gaze to the horizon

    on a late autumn evening

The wheels of his tractor still

pride of a good life flowing through his veins

    warming his callous hands

That innocent smile

    creeping onto his face

    as he shifts the tractor into drive

Heading home to eat dinner with his wife 

    and three kids

And like that

Tonight there will be no smiles

The horizon will receive too many questions

    centered on why he was taken

    why daddy isn’t coming home

   

And like that

Family will come together

Only to feel a shocking sense of being alone

Every word they wanted to say

    sets like the sun at the end of the day

Every possible

    I love you

    and good night kiss

Will feel like a heavy coat of regret

Pockets empty

    like the tomorrows he no longer has

And like that

His family will stuff their hands deep into that sorrow

Hoping to find something

anything

     to remind them of his voice

And like that

We are all left with memories

Mine of a boyish grin

on the sideline of a football game

years ago

*In memory of Bryce Niss 11-17-2020

Poetic Form 64: Terzanelle

 

Just

I swear your tomorrows will not be the same.

Let me show you the true definition of forever.

Just kiss me like you don’t know his name.

Open your hands, release the smell of his letters.

We can find our way to being lost.

Let me show you the true definition of forever.

Exhale all the sweet nothings he whispered soft.

Lift your eyes when you hear my name.

We can find our way to being lost.

Place his midnight gaze in a flame, 

burn away the weight of his promise.

Lift your eyes when you hear my name.

My arms are strong enough for you to find solace.

I’ll mend all the tears he left behind,

burn away the weight of his promise.

Walk with me, who knows what we will find.

I swear your tomorrows will not be the same.

I’ll mend all the tears he left behind.

Just kiss me like you don’t know his name.

Poetic Form #64: Terzanelle

The terzanelle form combines aspects of the villanelle and the terza rima. 

The form has nineteen lines, with five triplets and a concluding quatrain. The second 

line of each triplet stanza is repeated as the third line in the following stanza.  

The first and third lines of the first stanza are the second and final lines of the

concluding quatrain. Traditional terzanelle poems use a consistent iambic meter,

but I did not use that in my poem. 

The form is as follows:

A(1) B A(2)

b C B

c D C

d E D

e F E

f A(1) F A(2)

Poetic Form 63: Clogyrnac

 Run

And this is why we fall down.

Everyone scrambling for a crown.

Mountains don’t have space

for kings or false grace.

Run your race.

Turn around.

Chart a path for a purpose more

valuable than gold decor.

Feel your lungs burning

with joy and yearning

of earning

your own lore.

Poetic Form #63: Clogyrnac

Clogyrnac is a Welsh poetic form that has a six-line syllabic stanza(s) with an 

AB rhyme scheme with specific syllable rules as follows.

Line 1: 8 syllables A rhyme

Line 2: 8 syllables A rhyme

Line 3: 5 syllables B rhyme

Line 4: 5 syllables B rhyme

Line 5: 3 syllables B rhyme

Line 6: 3 syllables A rhyme

There are some variances for this form, for example line 5 and 6 can be combined into on line

with the same rhyme scheme.