Poetic Form 77: Landay

 

Love your neighbor, they holler as the

blood runs from wounds to the head and heart by prayless hands.

Neighbor needs a new definition,

besides the reflection we use from mirrors on the wall.

Poetic Form #77: Landay
The landay form varies in length but the couplet is the base structure. This means the poem can be two lines or several pages. The form most likely originated in the area of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. The couplet consist of 9 syllables in the first line; 13 syllables in the second line. Landay poems tend to reveal harsh truths (love, grief, war) using biting wit.

There is not a specific rhyme pattern for a landay, though the lines tend to end on the sounds of "na" and "ma". This is difficult to replicate in the English language.