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 73: Strambotto

 Holiday Moment

The laughter fills the corners of the dinning

room. Generations share stories of their past

that shines on a life they want to be living.

Brothers and sisters pass plates with smiles when asked.

Dessert and coffee are served before cleaning.

New romances have joined, family now recast.

I am silent for a second, convening

a holiday moment of love unabashed.

Poetic Form #73: Strambotto

The Italian form, Strambotto, is an 8-line poem or stanza. There are a few different 

styles of this form (I am using the Siciliano style). Each line has 11 syllables with 

a rhyme scheme: abababab.

Poetry Challenge Day 10: The (blank) That (blank)

The Word That Can Save The World

God said let there be LIGHT

    And there was LIGHT

An interesting word to start all of this

    Did he know that darkness

would be created, too?

Consider how we plant street lights

    Leave TVs on as we sleep

    Candles burn for

        dinner

        romance

        fragrance

        and to pray

You would think that LIGHT was the most

    powerful word in the world

let your light shine

Be a part of 

a thousand points of light

But the darkness never seems to fade

It dances on the edge

    of every day

We can not illuminate enough to remove all shadows

LIGHT is not the word that will save the world

LOVE is

LOVE is the word that will save the world

LOVE is...