DAY SIX!! “Acrostic Poem” for “30 Poems in 30 Days”

This is a common poetry form. School children use it all the time. 

ACROSTIC poem - you may already be quite familiar with them. You just write a word (place, event, feeling, person, month, whatever) down the left side of your paper and each line starts with that first letter. And you just go letter by letter creating line by line as you describe the thing (or person) that you wrote down the left hand side like:

A _________________________________
P _________________________________
R _________________________________
I __________________________________
L __________________________________

Just start each line with those letters to write an acrostic poem about April ~ or whatever 

Here are a couple of acrostic poems about the month of April that I wrote a few years ago; one has only one word per line and the other has several words. Begin each line with a word or phrase that starts with the letter on that line.

Anew
Perfect
Resurrection
Immortal
Life
   © 2011 Stephanie Abney 

A son of God
Perfect in every way
Reaches out to
Individuals because he
Loves us so

  © 2011 Stephanie Abney 

YOUR TURN!! You certainly don’t need to use April – just an example – use any word or the name of a person that you wish! Enjoy!!

Happy Sabbath!

DAY FIVE ~ “Cinquain Poem” (PATTERN ONE) for “30 Poems in 30 Days”

This is one of my FAVORITE forms of poetry - sweet, simple and to the point.    
                                                             

Cinquain Poem ~ there’s more than one style of cinquain poem – so we’ll call this “Pattern One.”

Cinq is French for FIVE ~ this poem has five lines that follow a specific pattern and THAT’S why I chose it for Day Five!!

This is a short five-lined poem doesn’t have an actual title; rather, the FIRST line (one word with 2 syllables) becomes the title.

It does not rhyme and in this version you count the number of SYLLABLES per line and each line has specific subject matter requirements. The first line has 2 syllables; each line increases by 2 syllables until the last line, which returns to 2 syllables:

1^st line ~ two syllables – the subject (or title) or your poem

2^nd line ~ four syllables that describe the title/subject

3^rd line ~ six syllables that express action

4^th line ~ eight syllables that express a thought or feeling

5^th line ~ two syllables synonym for title (restates subject using a different word)

EXAMPLES ~ here are 4 cinquain poems I wrote - two today and two a number of years ago. BE SURE THAT YOUR WORDS MATCH THE PURPOSE OF THAT LINE AND THE NUMBER OF SYLLABLES!! HAVE FUN!! ENJOY!!

Happy

Feeling joyful

A smile that endures

Whether in good times or bad times

Content

Stephanie Abney ~   © 2014

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oranges

Fragrant delight

Juice running down my chin

Sticky bites of satisfaction

Sunshine

Stephanie Abney ~   © 2014

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Children
A gift from God
Grace our lives for a time
Remain in our hearts forever
Precious
Stephanie Abney ~   © 1999

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Comfort
Feeling secure
Where judgment has no place
Wrapped in the safety of your arms
Husband
Stephanie Abney ~   © 1998

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your turn ~ give it a whirl - just pick out anything you are thinking of that is a two-syllable word, follow the pattern and see where it takes you. Feel free to post your poem in the comments, on your FB wall, your personal blog AND hopefully, in a poetry journal!! [You can follow me on Twitter by using @AbneyAuthor] Cheers!!

 

DAY FOUR "Quatrain Poem" for "30 Poems in 30 Days"

So, for Day 4, I figure we should write a poem that has FOUR lines!! Right?

Lots of poems fit that requirement but we will do a “quatrain” today. Obviously, it has four lines. (Tomorrow we will do a cinquain, which has five lines and is one of my all-time favorite poetry forms. Then we will stop messing with trying to match the lines with whatever day it is). 

OKAY, enough chatter. Here’s what you need to know about a “quatrain poem” ~ 

Each quatrain has four lines with a specific rhyming pattern, BUT there are lots of rhyming patterns out there. Basically, depending on which source you check, ANY of 12 patterns can work, but the lines with ending words that rhyme SHOULD have the same number of syllables as each other. The most common are AAAA, AABB and ABAB. 

SO, if lines 1 & 3 rhyme. And lines 2 & 4 rhyme, that would be an ABAB rhyming pattern. Rhyming lines should have the same number of syllables. 

OR, if lines 1 & 2 rhyme. And lines 3 & 4 rhyme, that would be an AABB rhyming pattern. Rhyming lines should have the same number of syllables.

The actual “quatrain” is ONE verse – but you can always string a bunch of them together to create a “quatrain poem” which can have any number of quatrains in it, including just one.  

In fact, you most likely already have a quatrain poem memorized. “Roses are Red” would be a prime example of a quatrain. 

You can also use an AAAA, an AABB, or AABA, or BBCB, or basically whatever – but the ending words should rhyme with each other in one pattern or another and whichever ones rhyme with each other, should have the same number of syllables. 

It may sound like a lot to think about but most Nursery Rhymes are quatrains, as are many hymns – it’s not that hard ~ give it a shot.

If for some reason, you DO want to complicate things – you can check out the NUMEROUS variations found on this website: http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/quatrain.html 

EXAMPLES:

He drew a circle that shut me out--
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in.

--Edwin Markham (American Poet, April 23, 1852 – March 7, 1940) 

Most of Emily Dickinson’s poems were made up of quatrains.
 

Here’s my attempt for Day 4 ~ It has an AABB pattern and lines 1 & 2 are 8 syllables while lines 3 & 4 are 7 syllables:

   
   You wonder where I’ve been all day. 
   I must admit, it’s hard to say. 
   Over here and over there. 
   I guess I’ve been everywhere. 
       © 2014 Stephanie Abney  

OKAY - create away - YOUR TURN!!

DAY THREE!! "Triplet Poem" for "30 Poems in 30 Days"

OK, Greetings!! We are on Day Three - so it only seems fun to write a poem with THREE LINES, called a "Triplet."

Now, depending on which EXPERT source you check things out at, you are bound to get different definitions for various forms of poetry. Odd, I know. But I'm trying to stick with as accurate definitions as I can for this challenge. Some people use the term "tercet" and "triplet" interchangeably when discussing poetry, but that's not what I have found. A "tercet" is a 3-lined poem (which may or may not rhyme and may or may not share the same meter). 

Therefore, yes, a "triplet" is a "tercet" BUT all "tercets" are not triplets. Go figure.

A "TRIPLET" is a very specific type of tercet and for our purposes we will follow these rules:

How to write a Triplet Poem ~

Triplets are 3 lined poems that rhyme.

BUT ~ HERE’S THE IMPORTANT PART ~
EVERY LINE HAS THE SAME NUMBER OF SYLLABLES or BEATS!

Fun times ~ it helps to think of a topic first, any topic (nature is usually the easiest to get an idea about).

Here’s an example (count out the syllables and you’ll see each line has the same number) by Sally Clark, found in “The Highlights of Homeschooling: How to Write 30 Forms of Poetry about Horses”

Through the waving grass we glide,

through the morning mist we ride,

galloping the prairie wide.

     © 2008 by Sally Clark

(Sally is a VERY gifted poet - I LOVE her thought-provoking poetry found in her "Selected Published Poems" ~ Selected Published Poems by Sally Clark - $6.00 - well worth it!! 

Here’s one I wrote three years ago 
(we have NOW been married over 43 years):

We’ve been together forty years,
Through laughter, joys, and all the tears.
Now, only you can calm my fears.
     © 2011 by Stephanie Abney 

And here's one that's way silly - which shows you I've been up in the wee hours working on this post. Sigh.... oh well. BUT, each line has 7 syllables/beats:

Finding words that always rhyme
Really takes a lot of time
Is NOT rhyming such a crime?
  © 2014 by Stephanie Abney 

Now you give it a try ~ Cheers!! And PLEASE feel free to share it in the comments or at least tell us you wrote one and where to find it.

AND PLEASE, if you wish to run your own poetry challenge - that's fabulous but please research your own types of poems to use and find the definitions on your own. I have invested more time than you would ever imagine setting these days up. NO ONE has my permission to just copy off of my blog and post it to theirs. IF you wish to use any of my material - please have the courtesy to contact me for permission, give me attribution after you share it and LINK BACK TO THIS POST. Thanks for respecting my work.

OKAY - GO!!!!

DAY TWO!! 30 Poems in 30 Days!!! “Couplet Poem”

So, for day TWO I thought we could write a few “couplets” ~ get it? For day TWO? They are simply a two-lined verse. How easy is that?

I hope you are trying these poetry forms out, even if you choose not to post them on here. Perhaps you could at least write them down each day in a “Poetry Journal.”

A friend of mine, Anna Arnett, is also doing a poetry challenge. In fact, I’ve noticed several writers doing this for Poetry Month – how cool is that? Anyway, she chose Day 1 for a couplet and this is what I posted on her blog for my couplet: 


Carefully stringing thoughts along    
Into lovely little word-songs.

    © 2014 ~ Stephanie Abney 


Although I’ve seen some that are totally random, the dictionary definition of a “couplet” suggests that they usually consist of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter. (The above example has 8 beats in each line and the endings rhyme well enough). So ~

Try expressing your complete thought in two mid-sized poetic lines. The last words should rhyme. It can be spiritual or silly or romantic or whatever suits your fancy – couplets are great to write for children or with children.

It is possible to string a bunch of couplets together to create a longer poem, but for our first day – just try one 2-line couplet.

Here a couple of couplets (hee hee) that I wrote a couple of years ago. Okay, so it was THREE years ago. Anyway, here they are, for what their worth (one is simple; the other is silly). 

 ~~~~~~~ I was thinking about the Lord's tender mercies and came up with this:

 
I know the Lord is mindful of me,
And it makes me happy as can be.
                             © 2011 by Stephanie Abney 

 
~~~~~~~ then, in a moment of frustration, I thought a little on "getting one's nose out of joint" and came up with this:

 
Writing this little assignment
Puts my nose out of alignment.
                               © 2011 by Stephanie Abney 

 
Did you think of a couplet? Just look around and think on an object or an emotion and give it a shot!!

 
Just a reminder – I’m going to share at least one poem in my blog post each of the 30 days of writing 30 poems ~ you are welcome (and encouraged) to do the same in the comments (or fire up your own blog)! Everyone should remember common courtesy: if someone writes something/anything - THEY ALSO OWN THE COPYRIGHT TO IT THE MOMENT THEY WRITE IT - so don't go using something you read here that someone else has written unless you give them proper recognition (and better yet, seek their permission to use it). Always include the name of the author of any story, poem, blog post or anything that you share. Thanks. [Drives me crazy when I read something wonderful that is flying through everyone's email and no one bothered to include the author's name]. Enjoy!!