Tag: limerick

covid 19, poetic forms, poetry

Some Short Poetry Forms

carolyncordon

One short form of poetry we all know is the Limerick. Who amongst us haven’t had a giggle at a rather risque limerick at some stage in our lives? Being a bit naughty, or worse, isn’t a necessity for the poetry form, it isn’t one of the poetic ‘rules’ for a limerick. What makes a poem a limerick is the rhyme, and the number of stresses, or ‘beats’ in each line, and the number of lines.

In a Limerick, the first, second, and fifth lines all rhyme and have three ‘beats’ in each line, and the third and fourth lines both rhyme and have two ‘beats’. If that sounds a bit confusing, here is a limerick I penned recently, on the theme of Covid-19, which seems to have taken up most of my attention, and much of this blogsite.

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This awful Covid virus

Sent here by Nature to try us –

It may cause some shrugs,

But I want my hugs!

It’s a blessing for those with shyness.

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The Japanese poetry forms, Haiku and the similar Senryu don’t rely on rhymes, they are more focused on line lengths. These forms are the same, except for subject matter. In the traditional Japanese format, they are both of 5, 7, and 5 syllables in the three lines that make up the poem. In more contemporary and wes, they may be shorter than that, but they are never a lengthy poem, and they focus on a moment, and the reading of the poem is done within a single breath, is one way I’ve seen it described.

The Haiku tends to be Nature focused, while the Senryu more focused on people, and it is more likely to show humour. There are many rules about these Japanese forms, too many for this blog post, but this site has a good explanation on what Haiku is, to help you to write your own. As I said above, Senryu has the same rules regarding form but not subject matter.

Nature in my front yard

Haiku can be difficult to get just right, and so can Senryu, this is one of my more successful Senryu, I feel:

My mind wanders –

watching birds & people 

also wandering …

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So they were two of my favourite short forms of poetry, if you like them, why not leave a message and let me know!

covid 19

A Note Regarding Poetry in “Plague Invasion”

carolyncordon

“Plague Invasion ” – It began as a short phrase in my head, and my poetry brain loved the assonance of the phrase and wanted to do more with the words. That ‘a’ sound in the two words seemed important, and worthy of something, something big. I could have written a poem, an important and worthy one. But I wrote something else, I wrote this blog post, and so it all started.

“Short poetry forms give the opportunity to share more thoughts, because four haiku will fit easily on one page … and so one ‘suite of Haiku’, can count as one poem. This may well mean each contributor will be able to share some more of their thoughts, poetically than for instance, on three lined Haiku, they will be able to submit for of them all on one page, as I did in this blog post, previously.

Hmm, I’ll write a post about that, and perhaps will received more small poems to showcase in this book. Haiku and the related Senryu, Clerihew, Tanka, Clerihew, Limerick. An A4 page of one of each will be one submission regarding poetry. The Editor has spoken!”

This was a comment on that previous blog post titled ‘Lines While in Lock down’. The comment was from John Malone, a friend and poet, who is again going to write a back blurb for a word related book for me, this book, . John is a regular commenter on this blog, and I value his thoughts. They often add value to what I have written.

John writes poetry, with a particular skill with short and pithy little poems, which he shares on his blog. In John’s small poems can be much that is important to think on. And isn’t that what good poetry can do, scale back the huge truths that are there, and present it to you, in a neat little package your mind can then unpack and think further about …

So, given all of these thoughts, the upshot is that I, as the editor of this worthy book, “Plague Invasion”, will accept submissions of a page of short forms of poetry, as one ‘poem’. So a ‘suite’ of five Senryu, for example, will count as one submission of poetry. I hope this is understandable, and if you need further clarification, post a question on this blog post, and I will do my best to answer any questions regarding this.

If you want to be involved in this, send poetry and/or prose to kittycordo@gmail.com – up to three poems of thirty lines or fewer, and/or up to 3,000 words of prose in up to three pieces. I will consider your submission, and let you know if it is accepted for this anthology. Contributors whose work is accepted will receive a free copy of the book. If they are Australian residents, the book will be posted to them, if they cannot attend the book launch.

People residing outside of Australia will receive a copy of the book on payment of the cost of postage and handling, with will be advised at a later time, when the costs is known. Stay well, write about what you’re experiencing, and we may meet up at the launch of this book. In the meantime, stay in contact here, on my blog, it’s my home away from home, at my home!

I value any feedback, please leave comments here, we can discuss things further.