Poetic Form 100: Glosa

 Why Write Poetry

Whenever the question comes up,

the poets all say the same thing:

the only poem we’re interested in is the next poem,

the one not written, the poem of tomorrow.

“The Next Poem” - Billy Collins

I have read that poetry is not needed.

That the world will revolve without words

that rhyme or follow meter.

This might be true

for a life void of crayons,

or animals made with dixie cups,

glue, and construction paper.

I reply that poetry is in a child’s song,

in tears of a lifetime breakup,

whenever the question comes up.

All art draws a line for our souls.

Bringing the unimaginable

from abstract to concrete,

to keep us from drowning

in a sea filled with waves

caused by life, by everything.

A brush, a guitar string, or these

words I search for to create a moment

for the reader to take wing.

The poets all say the same thing.

A poem is a present we send

to an unexpected world not knowing

if anyone will appreciate the 

painting inside the paper and bow.

Every word a small piece of truth

to inspire the lonesome,

the joyful, and the budding artist.

Poets write to stitch the fabric of living

for the pages of history. It’s known

the only poem we’re interested in is the next poem.

So, take these lines at this time

as a chance to see the frame

of a life lived, no matter how far away

from the emotions pulsing through

your veins. Grab a brush, a pair of scissors,

tap a tune that defines the depth of woe.

The world will turn, no matter what art is not created.

But the colors and emotions will be faded. 

I’ll be living, feeling the edges of a new rhyme though,

the one not written, the poem of tomorrow.

Poetic Form #100: Glosa

The Glosa or Glose is a Spanish poetic form that uses a quatrain from another 

poet’s work to structure the poet’s poem.

The form guidelines are:

1. A cabeza (or motto) – the quatrain borrowed from another poet, whose 

authorship must be acknowledged

2. Four 10-line stanzas, each ending with one of the lines in sequence from the cabeza.

3. The rhyme-scheme requirement is lines 6 and 9 rhyme with the final word of line 10 

of each stanza.

Poetic Form 99: Madrigal

 What Love Means

When they see us they will know what love means.

Hand in hand in step with the fading light,

I understand why birds are called to flight.

I wake early to see the morning glean

on skin, promises mixing with sunlight.

When they see us they will know what love means.

Hand in hand in step with the fading light.

I admit to getting lost in-between

seductive kisses and your smile bright.

My heart soars with the doves in clouds of white.

When they see us they will know what love means.

Hand in hand in step with the fading light,

I understand why birds are called to flight.

Poetic Form #99: Madrigal

The madrigal is an Italian form. There are two main types, the Italian and English.

I will focus on the English. The English form was developed by Geoffrey Chaucer. 

It is written in iambic pentameter, with three stanzas: a tercet, quatrain, and sestet. 

All three of the lines in the opening tercet are refrains.

The form follows this rhyme pattern:

Line 1: A

Line 2: B1

Line 3: B2

Line 4: a

Line 5: b

Line 6: A

Line 7: B1

Line 8: a

Line 9: b

Line 10: b

Line 11: A

Line 12: B1

Line 13: B2

Poetic Form 98: Ghazal

 

The Dark in Light

I felt my veins pulse in time with a dark in light

rhythm that called forward a moment sparked in light.

I moved through the day listening to a past song

from an old radio, the dial marked in light.

Words lost in waves of regret pulsed like a headache

that burned at the back of my green eyes stark in light.

The calendar said tomorrow was going to be

available, just cross time, a check mark in light. 

Even as the sun revealed blue skies and soft clouds,

the past whispered, “Jamey fall in the dark in light.”

Poetic Form #98: Ghazel

The Ghazal is an Arabic form of independent couplets (5 to 15). Each couplet

 is an independent poem, with a refrain of one to three of the last words 

in the second line of the first couplet. There is an inline rhyme that 

precedes the refrain.The last couplet should refer to the author’s 

real or pen name. The rhyming scheme is Aa bA cA dA eA.

 

Poetic Form 97: Rannaigheact Mhor

 I Write

Write well they say, yet I fail.

A tall tail a price to pay.

Maybe I can’t find ways, hail

the sale of my dang dismay.

Carve my name in bright paper

a caper for the fast flight.

No daylight say skyscrapers

cuts razors right, I will write. 

Poetic Form #97: Rannaigheact Mhor

The rannaigheact mhor form is a complicated Welsh form:

• Quatrain with an abab rhyme scheme, including consonant end sounds

• 7 syllables per line

• 2 cross-rhymes in each couplet of each quatrain

• Final word of line 3 rhymes with interior of line 4

• 2+ words alliterate in each line

• Final word of line 4 alliterates with preceding stressed word

• Final sound of the poem echoes the first sound of the poem

 

Poetic Form 96: Monotetra

 Here Joy Has Been

Stories told around the dinner

table. The youngest is bigger

now, adding to tales of winter.

Time’s a river. Time’s a river.

Plates clean, laughing until we cry.

Brothers and sisters testify

of past moments that fortify

Love’s real why. Love’s real why.

I hold a cup of coffee in

my hands, while I try to think when

I felt more blessed. Room filled with kin.

Here joy has been. Here joy has been.

Poetic Form #96: Monotetra

The monotetra form was developed by Michael Walker.  The poem is composed

 of quatrains (four-line stanzas) with 8 syllables per line. Each quatrain has 

mono-rhymed lines. The last line of each stanza repeats the same four syllables.

 The poem can be as short as one quatrain or as long as the poet wishes.

Poetic Form 95: Rhupunt

 Graduation

A single day,

early in May,

when students say

words found from time.

No more falling

tears, something calling

to stop stonewalling

this up hill climb.

Tassel now turned

bridges will burn

there’s no return

life now full time.

Poetic Form #95: Rhupunt

The rhupunt is a Welsh form. It can be written in lines or stanzas. 

Each line / stanza has 3 to five sections. Each section has four syllables. 

All except the last section rhymes. The final section rhymes with the 

other lines / stanzas.

A 2 stanza poem would look like this:

xxxa

xxxa

xxxa

xxxb

xxxc

xxxc

xxxc

xxxb

 

Poetic Form 94: Qasida

 Here be Dragons

The walking path leans into the woods, sunlight

becomes a mosaic pattern of delight.

My daughters scamper onto the darken ground

to find sticks, there are new dragons here to fight.

I follow their adventure on the path, I

yell, “A golden fire breather to the right!”

Smiling, I can almost feel the the wings flapping

as the dragon rises in my girls’ eyes bright.

With a blink of memory I feel the dark

corners of the woods take me to a past night.

As a young boy I would run the streets alone,

trying to dodge my own dragons, fear in flight.

Those dragons, not seen with imagination,

their wings and claws were never shown in daylight.

Always the new kid with a new address to

remember, a family just out of sight.

I learned to slay them with my words and paper,

a battle I won with a pen and rewrite.

I open my eyes, leave the path to join in 

a new story, three princesses and a knight.

We laugh as I spin the tale of new battles,

here be dragons that fatherly love makes right.

The Poetic Form #94: Qasida

The qasida is a form that dates back to pre-Islamic Arabia. The poem is a story 

written in a string of shers (complete couplets) that can be as long as 100 couplets. 

The meter is up to the poet but should be consistent. There is some debate 

about the rhyme scheme. One form has a mono-rhymed pattern: aa aa aa.  

Another variation is aa bb cc dd. The most common rhyme pattern is aa xa xa xa xa xa. 

The poem should also entail the following parts:    

• opening setting describes or recalls past times    
• tale of lost love or things left behind     
• the struggles of the journey      
• praise or some moral maxim    

Poetic Form 93: Ode

 Ode to Langston Hughes

I wonder if heaven is a big sea for you

 The waves crashing in a bebop rhythm

That eases your heart of the weary blues

    that filled your words

    that spoke to me

    as a twelve year old wandering through days

        climbing a darkened staircase

        humming that life was fine

You taught me that homework could be social commentary

You told me to hold fast

    to my dreams

I found my place in your America

  as I wrote my view of the streets

    in my own rhythm

    in my own meter

    in my own voice

Your jazz played a soundtrack for my muse

And I hope you smiled

    as I taught your words 

    to my own students

    trying my best to be silent 

        as you sang from the page

        taking them to Harlem

            as they sat in the middle of America

Your verses

    so much sharper

        than any photo or story

For Christmas 

they gave me a collection of your poetry

    I never told them that I already owned it

        both copies sit on my bookshelf

        edges tattered like a song

                that echos on Lenox Avenue

I hope you are happy now

I hope you are satisfied...

Poetic Form #93: Ode

An ode is a poetic form meant to celebrate a person, nature, or abstract ideas.

There are three types of odes.

A Horation ode has a structure of one stanza pattern that repeats throughout 

the poem--usually 2 or 4 lines in length.

A Pindaric ode has a pattern of three stanzas called triads. This type of ode 

can be composed of several triads, but the first (the strophe) and the second 

(antistrophe) should be identical metrically with the third (epode) with its own 

metrical path.

An irregular ode does not have any formalities, instead it focuses on the 

praising aspect of the ode.