The Versesmith

  Tanka Tuesday No. 316 Poets and Storytellers United: Friday Writings  : time affects all things This week is a Special Birthday Prompt for Colleen's 65th birthday.  She has asked us to create a syllabic form with 65 syllables, or a combination of words that amount to 65.  I have chosen to create a syllabic form with the following requirements. 9 lines 10/5/10/10/5/10/5/5/5  rhyme abaababbb (so 10 syllable lines all rhyme with each other, and the 5 syllable lines have a different rhyme with each other) I call it The Five and Dime because the 10s and 5s written out made me think of the old five and dime stores, which at age 65, I remember! To say that Time awaits no man is so. Still, he seeks to block, and stop the hands of Time to halt its flow. If within my power, I would forgo, not dare slow the clock. So grasp whatever age Time does bestow. Looking back, take stock, head held high, and walk, to Time’s door and knock. ©2023 Lisa Smith Ne...

Tanka Tuesday Weekly Poetry Challenge No. 314 This week's challenge is to " write a shadorma, or series of shadorma, using three to five of the random words provided. "  Words: Scale, fish, month, soup, smile, sticks, slave, property, songs, brushes, rock, disease, shade, cloud, giants, polish, wing, approval, spring, grape, books, comparison, walk, front, hot I have written four, which sort of tell a story of a sunny spring day interrupted by rain.  I will insist that "giants" is two syllables, even as the "official" syllable counter shows it one. I I sip soup in the company of bird songs. Spring arrived! I smile in my approval of this warm spring day. II Cloud Giants roll across blue skies. Welcome rain gently falls. Birds trill songs of approval, thanks for spring showers. III The sun fades. Grey Cloud Giants pass overhead. Rain begins. I run for cover, my books dry under my shirt. IV Cloud Giants clash high above me....

 Today's NoPoWriMo (day 4) prompt was to write a Triolet, a form I'd never tried before.  The instructions sound harder than it really is!   A Triolet is an eight line poem, with eight syllables in each line.  The first two lines repeat as lines 7 and 8, and line 1 repeats as line 4.  So, there you have 5/8 of the lines already written!  Now come the rhymes.  Line 3 and 5 rhyme with line 1.  Line 6 rhymes with the second line.   It was easiest to write the first two lines, then type them out with lines 3, 5, and 6 blank.  Then, go back and write the rhyme those.  Here's what I did.  Winter holds on tight this April Refusing to cede to springtime 3 Winter holds on tight this April 5 6 Winter holds on tight this April Refusing to cede to springtime  My finished Triolet. Winter holds on tight this April, refusing to cede to springtime. The rime thick on the shady hill, winter holds on tight this April...

April is National Poetry Writing Month, and while I won't be writing a poem a day, I like to check in on the prompts and see what strikes my fancy.  The I prompts I use, or don't use, or save for later, are here. Day two was a three parter.   Part one: "Today’s prompt asks you to begin by picking 5-10 words from the following list. Next, write out a question for each word that you’ve selected." From the list, I picked the following eight words.  fog river miracle gutter thunder ghost longing song Then, my questions, which may have been a bit specific. Does the fog obscure the river today? Is the river smooth this morning? What do you feel is a miracle? What do I see in the gutter? Does thunder frighten the dog? Is that a ghost I see lurking on the attic stairs? How deep is your longing? Can a song settle your worried mind? Part two: " Now for each question, write a one-line answer. Try to make the answer an image, and don’t worry about s...

Tanka Tuesday Weekly Poetry Challenge No. 313 "This week, share the view outside your window by writing a poem in syllabic form.  If you write a freestyle form, please add a syllabic form to your post.  Have fun!" I view my garden,  waking from too long winter, from behind the glass. Years of masks, vaccinations, with my guard down, COVID strikes. ©2023 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved #tankatuesdayno313 #tankatuesdayweeklypoetrychallenge #tankapoetry #tankapoem #COVIDpoetry #syllabicpoetry #syllabicpoem #COVIDpoem #COVIDtanka