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 37: Dizain

The Beat Down

I walk down a street I know well. Nervous 

because the dangers have become too real.

Love and honor are now just lip service.

I blink, I am surrounded. “Here’s the deal.”

the mob says. All I feel is someone’s heel

connect to the back of my knee. I fall.

Concrete scraping my cheek. One against all.

In the fetal position I return.

Kicks and blows fall, I am now a rag doll.

Bones match a heart broken. Why is love spurned?

Poetic Form #37: Dizain

A dizain poem is one 10-line stanza, with 10 syllables per line and the following
ababbccdcd rhyme scheme.

Another Round

   The bell sounds again
I lift myself off the wooden stool
   My legs
     concrete blocks shuffling to the center
          of the ring

Another round

I lift my hands
   tied into old gloves
   the stuffing beat down
      blood seeping from my knuckles
   darkening the worn leather

I am tired
  My opponent
           Pops his neck
           Shuffles his feet
He looks as fresh as a new day

I know I will have to dodge and weave
   and pray I land a lucky punch
I breathe deeply
Close my eyes for a second