Day 26 ~ “Synonym or Antonym Poem” for “30 Poems in 30 Days" #NationalPoetryMonth

Synonym and/or Antonym Poetry:

These are simple yet POWERFUL poems. They incorporate a couplet, are only three lines long (and the first line is ONLY a one-word title) and can really be quite profound.

Here are a few nifty, helpful online resources:  

"Synonyms" ~ resource for synonyms and/or antonyms (depending on which little dot you click up by the search button)

"Rhyme Zone" ~ plug in a word, hit search and it kicks out a list of rhyming words (this one is the easiest to use, I think, because the other one gives you thousands of choices and that’s too long to sort through and can be overwhelming. So, whichever you like…

"Rhymer" ~ pretty cool – even has six options on how to rhyme: end rhymes (rhyme ending words), last syllable rhymes, double rhymes (like walking/talking), triple rhymes (have the same vowel sounds in the third-to-last syllable and all following sounds (explanation, destination, imagination), beginning rhymes (scenery/cedar) and first syllable rhymes (carrot/caring).

INSTRUCTIONS:

Choose any word.  Write that word in capital letters on the first line.  

Choose around 3-5 synonyms OR antonyms and list them below your one-word line 1, and they become your second line. If none come to mind, just look them up in a thesaurus or at "SYNONYMS" ~ a resource for synonyms AND antonyms. 

THEN, on the third line, come up with a descriptive phrase about the word. 

And yep, the ending words of both lines 2 & 3 need to rhyme. J

Here are two examples I came up with a couple of years ago:

IMMIGRANT

Pioneer, settler, foreigner, outsider, newcomer.

Welcome. I, too, walk to the beat of a different drummer.

                                                          

                                                                  © 2017 Stephanie Abney

GROWTH

Emergence, evolving, increment, development.

Without life’s obstacles there is little improvement.

                                                                     © 2017 Stephanie Abney

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

Photo credit: image by Gerd Altmann at Pixabay

Day 24 ~ “Diatelle Poem” for 30 Poems in 30 Days" #NationalPoetryMonth

Okay – this poetry challenge is almost over. It’s been lots of fun. I hope you have been enjoying yourself. I think you’ve proven you are all up for a new challenge – I have only shared this poetic form once in the seven years I’ve been doing poetry month. So, I figure maybe it’s time to introduce it again. 

Writing a DIATELLE POEM can be a bit tricky – it’s still all about counting syllables (remember, there IS a syllable counter online if you need it) and about rhyming CERTAIN lines SPECIFICALLY with other lines. If you DON’T follow it precisely, you won’t get the desired result – you’ll get a poem, no doubt, just not a “Diatelle Poem” which is today’s poetry form. 

It’s a fairly new form created by Bradley Vrooman. So since I STILL haven’t even attempted this form yet (that’s kind of embarrassing), I’m using Bradley Vrooman’s poem as an example, with the syllable count per line in blue and the rhyming pattern in red to make it easy to see the format. I hope to get back to add in one or two of my own. In the meantime, let’s see what you come up with ~ I’ve included a pretty nifty chart to help with the details:

It looks best if you can center it – kind of has a diamond shape because of the order of the syllable count, which is: 1-2-3-4-6-8-10-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1,

And it has a VERY SPECIFIC RHYMING PATTERN – every line that ends with the "A pattern" – needs to rhyme with each other. The same for letters B and C ~ here is the pattern to follow:

A-B-B-C-B-C-C-A-C-C-B-C-B-B- A

So, you can see it will be a bit trickier than those we have done in the past – but I bet it’s one you probably haven’t heard of before – that’s what I was going for – something new.

I created a little pattern box to help you sort it all out – see below –

Bradley Vrooman’s Example: Smooth Sailing                                Walk (Syllable count 1 - rhyme: a) With me (2 - b) And simply (3 - b) With arms around (4 - c) Each other's waist, happy (6 - b) Moving about the day, as bound (8 - c) As ever can be, with true love abound (10 - c) lay with me all day and all night, my world you rock (12 - a) Passion’s fire, a desire induced by sound (10 - c) Pure as light, each spectrum surround (8 - c) Hypnotized as can be (6 - b) Love that’s profound (4 - c) Spoken free (3 - b) With me (2 - b) Talk(1 - a)  - © Bradley Vrooman

Diatelle Poetry Chart ~ match the ending rhyming words with the same color (grey columns are because NONE of the lines end in that number of syllables).

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
1	A
2	B
3	B
4	C
6	B
8	C
10	C
12	A
10	C
8	C
6	B
4	C
3	B
2	B
1	A

GOOD LUCK!! Whatcha’ got?

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.