The Versesmith

  24 Seasons Syllabic Poetry Challenge, No. 32  Grain Rain (April 19 – May 4) Koku 穀雨 " This week: Your writing invitation is to experiment with the renga form. " " I’ll give you the hokku portion for the Northern & Southern Hemispheres, and you write the wakiku portion. (I’ll add the kigo words to the hokku).  BONUS: After you write the wakiku in reply to my hokku, please add your own hokku (haiku) on your post. In the comments on your post, I’ll add the wakiku portion! " an empty attic the sound of April showers thunderous rumblings so different from winter's silent snowfalls on my roof For my hokku I have used the kigo "wisteria," as mine is blooming. with lilac petals the wisteria perfumes the air as we pass ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved  #tankatuesday #kigo #tankatuesdaypoetrychallenge #tankatuesday24seasons #rengapoem #renga  #syllabicpoetry #wisteria

 Z – Zip Ode We've come to the end of another April, another last letter in the A to Z Challenge.  For Z I offer The Zip Ode, an invented form from O, Miami and WLRN .  Your zip code is the basis of a poem!   When you're done, you can even submit it on the O'Miami page.   www.wlrn.org/write-an-ode-to-your-zip-code Write or type your zip code down the left side of the page.  Each number determines the number of words in that line.  Alternatively, you can use syllable count. If your zip code includes a zero, it's up to you, it's considered a wild card.  Blank, emoji, punctuation, words...  This is not my zip code now, but the one from the city where I grew up. 94595 If I tried to climb those hills now, I doubt I would make the top without rest. Then, I’d run to my father as he came down from the bus. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved That was fun!  Let's do it again next year!  I already have plans!

 Y - YaDu Yadu is a Burmese climbing-verse poem. YaDu means "seasons" so will include a seasonal reference.   It also has the following rules: * up to 3 stanzas * 5 lines in each stanza  * lines 1-4 have 4 syllables * the last line has either  5,7,9, or 11 syllables * the climbing is a staircase rule, which applies to lines 1 - 4 xxxa xxax xaxb xxbc line 5 ends with a rhyme of line 4 so: 4/4/4/4/last line  5, 7, 9, or 11 I have color coded my staircase rhyme words.  The winter’s done every one sing the sun will shine this di vine day skipping along the path way ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved 

 X - Xanthic Oh, X.  The problem letter for many of the A to Zers! I have used the word xanthic. Once you read the poems the meaning of the word will come clear!  Or, you may be familiar with it already. I wasn't.  I discovered it looking for an X word prompt!   https://freepngimg.com/png/4849-banana-png-image The daffodil wasn’t yellow, nor was the banana, unripe. They both were xanthic in color. Now, don’t you put up a gripe. Xanthic is important to describe a yellow with green. Once you’ve seen it, you understand, so just stop being so mean. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved  Xanthic: https://thecontentauthority.com/blog/xanthic-vs-xanthous

  W – window  An old NaPoWriMo prompt asked us to look out a window and jot down words of what we see. Then, mix and match those words to build a poem.   NaPoWriMo has some great prompts, so you may wonder why I use old ones. They are released day by day in April, and I need more time to prepare for the A to Z Challenge.   My Out-the-Window words: Clouds, moon, stars, Venus, bare branches, cedar trees, steam from the mill, black, shades of grey, shades of blue, blowing My poem: The branches of the cedar tree, silhouetted against the black sky, filter moonlight. Steam from the mill rises white. To the east the horizon pink, as dawn nears. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

 V - Verso-Rhyme   The verso-rhyme was invented by L. Ensley Hutton.  It is written on a subject the poet feels emphatic and enthusiastic about. * 8 lines (an o ctastich) * syllables 6/4/6/4/6/4/6/4 * rhyme pattern  x a x b x a x b * usually right margined  * the only punctuation is an exclamation point at the end   Under a slate gray sky we wait for rain The soil parched seedlings wilt An arid year Side by side we remain with hopeless hope and watch the sky again No rain we fear! ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

U - Used Up  A ekphrastic poem based on this painting.  See E for a definition. unsigned painting in my collection Used up. That’s how she felt. An obligatory soiree in too tight heels. “ Put yourself out there and schmooze. It makes me look good when you look good. ” Yes, she felt used up. Beat down. Worn out. Done in. And over it. She was determined that last night was the last time she’d be put on display. No more playing Trophy Wife. It was harder work than she expected. But, damn... that prenup. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved 

 T - Tears I seem to have a run going of poetry from old prompts courtesy of  NaPoWriMo !   From “ That Morning ” by Rauan Klassnik.  The red text signifies the words I used as prompts.   " I’m trying to get this absolutely right. The words “ deer, ” “ clouds ,” “ trees ,” and “ it felt like it was raining ,” have all been crossed out." It felt like it was raining without clouds in the sky. Drips from the fir trees lining the deer trail ran down my face. No, not rain, tears. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

 S - Stones  Yet again, an old NaPoWriMo prompt!  " ...a poem that features  walls, bricks, stones, arches, or the like. "  This one is a true story.  My yard is full of stones gathered from the river. I’m told they were brought here in the bed of a truck, vacation by vacation. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal. As they say, “If we all took a stone, pretty soon there would be no stones.” My yard is full of stones. You wouldn’t be able to throw a stone without hitting a few. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

R - Rhymes A prompt from a quote found on the Bibliomancy Oracle .  Click the button and you will receive an answer to your question or concern!  All in fun of course.    I got a few good quotes to work with, this one being from  “ The Wages of Pascal ” by Charles Bernstein No doubt these rhymes annoy you.   I have come across people who insist poems must rhyme, and this quote reminded me of them, and how wrong they are! No doubt these rhymes annoy you. They annoy me as well. As do those who believe it’s not poetry at all, if it does not rhyme. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved 

Q - Quadrille  A quadrille is a poem of exactly 44 words.   This was written in response to a prompt, but I missed the window of time to link it, so it wasn't published.  The prompt was the word " imagine ," which is included in the 44 word count.  Imagine if we’d never met, we had never said, “ Good Day .” Imagine how our lives would be, had we gone on our way. I imagine you would miss me, and feel an empty spot. I imagine you would turn around, without a second thought. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

P - Prompts and Preludes  A common poetry prompt is to take a line from another poem and use it as inspiration for a new one.  I chose the last line of T. S. Eliot's Preludes , making this a double P post.  Some of the words are taken from his The Waste Land , referenced in the last line. Inspiration: Thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season. My arid soul cries out for moisture. My heart, a dry stone. Unloved. Unloving. Withered. I look for water in sand and stone. Too long I’ve been without. A Wasteland ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

O - Oregon Myth   NaPoWriMo had this prompt in the past.   There are many good poems based on myths.  But today I challenge you to write a poem based on a non-Greco-Roman myth.  I went local, but not with Bigfoot!  I discovered an Oregon myth of a creature living in the Columbia River dubbed Colossal Claude.  First seen in 1934, he is said to be a snake-like, 40' long creature, with "evil" looking eyes, prehistoric, with a horse-shaped head.  Apparently he was fond of salmon. More Claude sightings came in over the next thirty years.  Sailors, local residents, and tourists all reported seeing him.  There is video footage from 1963 of a creature matching the description given, however it was much shorter than the previous 40'.   Colossal Claude with evil eyes lurking in the river. Snake-like in body, a horsey head, make the fishermen quiver. In deep water where salmon swim, the crew given to shiver. The salmon gone, Claude n...

 N – Naga-Uta Naga-uta is Japanese for “long song.” As a poem, the lines alternate the syllable count of 5-7, ending with a last 7 syllable line.  It is also called a choka. Hoping to See a Rainbow  I awake early,  the sun still hidden by trees. A pink horizon  through the bare winter branches. Does it foretell rain, that pink sky in the morning? I slip on my robe. Purple.  I have always thought it made me look fat.  Like a purple polar bear. The cats are hungry,  whining at the bedroom door. Once fed, they're asleep again.  My dog waits for me to dress, go outside.    The sun higher, clouds scarlet. I feel the first drop,  raise my eyes into the sky hoping to see a rainbow.  ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

 M - Music  Yet another old prompt from NaPoWriMo .  This one was " to take any random song play list... and use the next five song titles on that randomized list in a poem ." The five songs (on my phone): 1 Without You 2 I Love a Rainy Night 3 Paint it Black 4 Another Saturday Night 5 Crazy Little Thing Called Love Without you by my side, I can’t love a rainy night. Without you by my side, it’s just another Saturday night. Without you by my side, I want to paint it black... this hopeless, crazy little thing called love. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved 

 L - Lies Another past years' prompt on NaPoWriMo .   Write a ten-line* poem in which each line is a lie. Your lies could be silly, complicated, tricky, or obvious.    *I broke up a few longer lines of the original ten, so it's twelve lines now. I will not miss you, I never will. I’ll never think of you, ne’r evening, nor new dawn. I’ll not dream I wake, you at my side, nor speak your name to silent rooms. I will not miss you when you go. Make no mistake on that. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

  K - Katauta The katauta is a Japanese form that is considered an incomplete poem. Katauta are written in 3 lines, syllables of 5-7-5 or 5-7-7 (more common), and addressed to a lover.  If paired together they offer a question and answer between lovers, and are called sedoka.   I have written just the one, as an unanswered question.  Why do you cry out? Are your dreams frightening things that I should wake you? ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

J - Jueju Jueju is a Chinese verse that was popular in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).  It has stanzas of four lines, each line having either five or seven syllables.  The five line is called a wujue , the seven qijue;   wu and qi meaning five and seven. Apparently there is a lot more to jueju than that though, and it's difficult in English.  So forgive my clumsy efforts. " ...the process of creating a Jueju is complicated by the need to ensure the alternating of level and oblique tones in each line, which can be confusing to those who are unfamiliar with the tonal nature of the spoken Chinese language ."   www.poetrysoup.com/dictionary/jueju Yes, young me in a hillside of mustard! The wild mustard on the hill is blooming in springtime still. Far fewer than in my youth; child's false mem'ry, or the truth? ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

 I – I Invented No, not too many Is!  This is an invented form that I created as a prompt last April for Tanka Tuesday.  We were asked to create a from with 65 syllables. I called it The Five and Dime due to the syllable counts being 5s and 10s.   The "rules" are simple.  It may have a title if you wish.  If you use the form, please credit me! * 9 lines * syllables 10/5/10/10/5/10/5/5/5  * rhyme abaababbb (or, the 10 syllable lines have one rhyme, the 5 syllable a different rhyme) Unfortunately, the poem I wrote is based on the true story of March's pea bed.  On this near spring morning I check the peas, hoping to see green.  Chilly cold, my hood up against the breeze, I hope.  Gardening holds no guarantees.  The nights have still been long and dark, no suspension of dawn's freeze. Not a sprout is seen. In their place a scene, a stray cat latrine  ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

 H - Haiga Haiga is a Japanese form combining a painting or drawing and a haiku written directly on the artwork.  In English we usually include the combination to include photographs.  However, in Japanese there is a word for photo-haiku, shahai, haiku + photo . * 3 lines  * syllable count of short/long/short - traditionally 5/7/5, but can be 3/5/3, or 2/3/2.   * the haiku is the most important part of the haiga, and should not rely on the image to complete it, or make it understandable.   * no title, no rhymes, no punctuation (as in haiku) * include a kigo, or seasonal word or phrase (which all haiku need!) So, here is a haiga, or what in English we usually call a haiga, which is really a shahai. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved 

 G - Golden Shovel  A golden shovel is an invented form, created by Terrance Hayes.  It is written by taking a line or lines from an existing poem and using each word as end words in your poem.  Keep the words in order, and make sure to give credit.  "Here I am, an old man in a dry month," the opening line of T.S. Eliot's Gerontion .  The title is Greek for  "little old man."  I would have liked to have added " year by year " as  a last line, but that wasn't in the poem. I am here. There is nowhere else I care to go, I am a used up man, an ancient, hoary, old man. I sit in my dingy bedsit day after night, a sorry sad man, withered and dry. Here, day by day, week by week, month by month. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved 

F - Farewell Poem   I browsed NaPoWriMo' s past years' prompts to see what might work for the A to Z.  This prompt was one that caught my eye. Write a poem of farewell.  I chose to write it using the form American Sentence, which is one sentence with 17 syllables.  The American sentence was invented by beat poet Allen Ginsberg.  It should convey its message in a single line, and often has a twist, or turning point. No time to say, "Goodbye," you left before I knew you wouldn't be back. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved 

E - Ekphrasis  Ekphrasis is Greek for " description ."  An ekphrastic poem is a description of a scene, most often from a work of art.   The image used may be part of the poem, or inspire the poet to go another direction.  My ekphrastic poem is what I see, a couple on a train, in this print by David  Wirkkala.   For all I know, it may not be a train at all!  The Train Ride They sit side by side yet miles apart. Leaning forward he distances himself. staring ahead, elbows on knees, jaw tightly clenched. She, turned towards the window, staring out at nothing, feigning interest in the passing scenery, clasping her clutch tightly in her lap. As intently as they ignore each other, I watch them. Is this their first conflict or their last? ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

                                D – D iminishing Poem In a diminishing poem the last word "diminishes" from one line to the next by removing one, or occasionally two, letters from the beginning of the word. If the poem is three lines it is a subgenre of a classic triplet.  They are a simple form, however they do get harder as your starting word gets longer.  I’ve married trice and thrown the rice. Love turned to ice His weight wasn’t clout. He was just a lout. I threw him out. Put out the trash! I’m getting a rash from the soot and the ash. I am so very glad I met the nice lad through an online ad Don’t eat that swill! For if you will, you are sure to be ill. Scram! I’ve got to cram. Facts into my brain to ram. My final's in the am.* ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved   *The last word is read as the word "am," not the abbreviation.    ...

 C - The Clairvoyante  Not a cento, a poem made up of only lines from another poem.  Not a golden shovel (that will be my post for G), which takes the last words of an existing poem and uses them as the first words in a new work.  I have used some lines (shown in italics) from T. S. Eliot's The Wasteland , and added my own.  It probably has a form name, but I don't know what it is.  A type of found poetry at any rate.   Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante, Had a bad cold,  resulting in her predictions being “off.” No longer “ the wisest woman in Europe ,” her congested sinuses blocked the flow of information. “ Here, she said, Is your card… ” “But I’m sure it’s not quite right, “… this card… is blank .” She sneezes into her shawl, excusing herself with a smile, suggesting her shew stone instead. ... I am forbidden to see. She gazes into her ball, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. “ I do not find… de...

  B- Bridging Title As the name of this form suggests, the title is read as the first line.   No M ail A gain T oday. I am beginning to wonder if I still exist. P erhaps I’ ve moved and forgotten to notify myself of the change of address. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

It's April 1st, and time to start the 26 day alphabet countdown.  Every day, with Sundays off, I'll be posting a poem relating to that day's letter.  It may be a form (such as this one for A), a title, a subject, something to do with a prompt.  I fully admit, some will be better than others.  There is still time for you to join in.  www.a-to-zchallenge.com Here we go!  A - Alphabet Haiku  Alphabet haiku is an invented form created by Beatrice Evans.   Invented forms are new poetic structures that do not necessarily follow traditional or established "rules."  Alphabet haiku follows the traditional haiku syllable count of 5/7/5.  The only change required is each word begins with the same letter.   Wet windblown wastelands. Weary white winter weather. Wake, wonderous warmth! ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved  F will be another A poetry form, the American Sentence.