The Versesmith

dVerse Poetics : Names of the Rose  Please choose at least FIVE rose names from the list below. Or choose  your own FIVE words or more from this huge list. If the rose name is more than one word, you must use both words.  There is one stipulation, you can NOT use the word, “rose” in your  poem! I chose the following words, which I have underlined in the poem: Restless Seafoam Tangles Golden Gate Windrush Summer Song Peace I’m restless . I walk the tideline on Baker Beach, kicking tangles of kelp and seafoam . The fog is heavy, nearly concealing the Golden Gate Bridge. A windrush gusts; my hair briefly covers my vision. I sit on the cliffs hidden from the commuters above. The sound of waves and gulls, my summer s ong. The damp fog and incoming tide, my peace . ©2026 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved  

Bloom is the prompt word for today's dVerse quadrille.  Write a quadrille (a poem of EXACTLY 44 words, not including the title) AND include the word “bloom” or a form of the word within the body of the poem. A synonym for bloom does not fulfill the prompt. It must be the word “bloom”, or a form of the word, for example “bloomed, or blooming or bloomin’”. The bearded iris started blooming last week. Purples first, then the orange. “Mango Passion” it’s called. Fancy! My purples were free off a curb. They are the nameless mutts of the garden. Beautiful none the less, like the proverbial rose by any other name. ©2026 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved   Mango Passion

A Z appai is often referred to as a "pseudo-haiku," and haiku societies dismiss the from as having little literary value.  A  Z appai follows the 5-7-5 syllable lines of haiku, but never has seasonal references.  What I have written isn't even a proper Z appai!  I have laid it out as one sentence of 17 syllables, which is an American Sentence.    It's a Z oo Out There was bought at Goodwill for $2.69.  How could I resist!  There must be a story behind this trio of Washington D.C. powerhouses!  The title is one I used for the Challenge, I usually call it Animals in D.C .   This isn't the first time I've featured this artwork in a poem.  Here's the other .  If I say they act like animals, that gives animals a bad name. ©202 6 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved     Thanks to all who dropped in this month for the A to Z Challenge!  It was fun!  

Alphabet haiku using the letter Y .  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.  My twist? Only the first word of each line begins with the same letter. After all, it’s an invented form, and they do not necessarily follow established “rules”!  Y ang Jian is a figure in Chinese mythology.  I found this mid-century half-tone print of Y ang Jian in an Italian frame in the Goodwill Outlet bins.  It's not unusual for his third eye to be missing, as exports (the print isn't Italian, only the frame) "softened" the supernatural elements for the Western markets. Also, his celestial dog is often left out of these small prints, the focus is on the central figure.    yang jian, warrior ...

X is always the hardest letter, especially for a poetic form.  So, this artwork was chosen not for an X as a title or subject of the artwork, but for the red X I see across the image.  It may not have been the artist's intent, although it would fit his theme.  So, no specific poetry form, some lines free verse, some rhymed, it's just a poem based on the red X .  This is a print of Franz Marc's   Fate of the Animals , painted in 1913, here renamed by the publisher, for an American market, as   Animals at Bay .  The artist wrote on the back of the original canvas, " And all being is flaming, suffering ," or " And all being is flaming sorrow ."  Marc had a feeling of foreboding, a premonition of society's apocalyptic shattering.  He sensed the coming World War, and his painting depicts the price of human conflict on nature, the animals as innocent victims.  The dark portion of the painting was damaged a few years later, after the...

  The  W aka   is a 5-line Japanese poem which is sometimes confused with the tanka.  Both have a 5/7/5/7/7 syllable structure, however the W aka's lines are arranged in a particular way.  The first 2 lines make up one piece, the second 2 lines another, then the final line can be part of the second group, or stand on its own.  W restlers I (there is another I call W restlers II ) was painted in 1960 by my father, W in Smith. as in ancient G reece the three men wrestle naked the early morning sunrise seeps through open doors shadows dance on the gym floor ©202 6 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved  

 The V erso- R hyme was invented by L. Ensley Hutton.  It is written on a subject the poet feels emphatic and enthusiastic about, as it ends in an exclamation point. * 8 lines (an octastich) * 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   (I am not religious, so please forgive me if the poem has things incorrect.  Read it as a poem, not a how-to for prayer.) I found this hand-painted Mexican devotional Madonna painting in the Goodwill Outlet bins.   It's about 75 years old, not a tourist item. Virgin, we pray to you our pleas be heard your generous comfort never ending we supplicate you now to hear our word we kneel before you our prayers ascending! ©202 6 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved  

U ta (Japanese lyric poetry) is the general term for Japanese poems, especially waka (most common a tanka), and also includes older forms like chōka and sedōka.  I have written a tanka.  U rban Showers is my title for this ink on newsprint by Mary  Pedri.  In a previous life it won an award at the 1963 Lodi Grape Festival and National Wine Show.  That's Lodi, California.  It was a birthday gift from one of my sons, who found it at Goodwill.   wet pavement glimmers under the dim sidewalk lamps commuters rush to taxi stands and bus shelters autumn rain in the city ©202 6 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved  

T ermelay, an unrhymed 6-line poem where line 6 repeats line 3, with syllables 4/4/4/8/8/4.  Some syllable counters will show "remembrances" as three, however it's one of those words that we pronounce differently from the formal rules. T urquoise Memories is a monotype, a print created by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface and transferring that image onto paper.  A monotype is one of a kind.  I bought this at Goodwill for $5.21.  There was a gallery sticker on the back, $550! Remembrances swirl in my mind just out of reach nudging memory, soft white sand turquoise waters, you in my arms just out of reach ©202 6 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved      

  The S edoka form is believed to have originated in ancient Japan. It is often written in pairs, with two consecutive S edoka poems forming a larger poem know n as a K atauta . The two S edoka poems are typically connected thematically and often tell a story or express a single idea or emotion.  Mine is a pair written from the viewpoint of a husband and wife.  S edoka are short, three-line poems that share many features with haiku. But they are arranged in a different syllable pattern, 5-7-7 rather than 5-7-5. S udden S hower over S hin-Ohashi Bridge , by Hiroshige Atake.  My print is either a late Edo-period (1857-1868) or early Meiji impression (late 1860s-1870s), both considered "original period" impressions printed from the original blocks, using the same pigments and techniques as the first edition (1857).  There would be a seal to date it more accurately, but it's currently matted and framed so the seal cannot be seen.   How it came to be in m...

         A R everse Etheree is simply an Etheree turned upside down. In an Etheree the syllable count begins with one, and increases each line until the last line with 10. Here the syllable count begins with 10 and sequentially runs thru 1.  The R anch House  is my name for this unsigned mid-century (1930s - 1950s) California regional impressionism.  I bought it as a present to myself with a tax refund back when I worked and got tax refunds!  I did pay more than you are used to my paying for art, $89.00.  The ranch up the road is abandoned now; the tenants up and left last Wednesday. No warning, left no trace behind. I walk the yard, take in the  scent of eucalyptus,  mists from the ocean. My old dog whines, turns around to go home. ©2026 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved  

The  Q uintilla is a Spanish poetic form.  Five-line stanzas Eight syllables per line An ab rhyme scheme in which at least two lines use the "a" rhyme and at least two lines use the "b" rhyme... But the stanza cannot end with a rhyming couplet. These are the possible rhyme pattern variations: abaab ababa abbab aabab aabba The most common of these is ABAAB, which is what I used.   This is Q ueen Isabel , my name for her.  I have always seen a woman in a royal type headdress, and my imagination sees the background as ship sails!  You're welcome to see something else, that's the beauty of an abstract without any artist information.  To me this looks like a black ink print over paint.  I bought her at a Goodwill for $5.39, in an amazing, and expensive, frame and matting.  If Helen launched a thousand ships in myth. Y ou, Q ueen, in history, launched many with commanding lips. F ...

The P areado dates back to the 12th century in Spain.  It consists of two lines with end rhymes, either consonant or assonant).  It can be syllabic, and in the Spanish tradition, are, but it's not necessary. Usually a P areado expresses a joke, or a twist of some sort.    P ompeii. The Race  ( P ompei. La Corsa )  i s a watercolor painting signed Scognamiglio,  inspired by ancient Roman wall paintings in the Pompeian style.  Scognamiglio is a common surname in Naples, and several family members would work in the Neapolitan workshops near P ompeii producing fresco copies for tourists.  This piece dates to between 1935 and 1950. These dates are based on the paper type, and border and signature style.  I bought this at a yard sale with a lot of other works of art, so divided evenly probably cost a bit under $1. cherubs race and stags beware of Dionysus' mad ones' snare ©202 6 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reser...

O vi or O vee is a form from India which was commonly used in the folk-songs and narrative poems of the 12th century, and is still used today.  There are two forms, literary and women's.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovi_(poetry) O vi is written in 4 line stanzas, any number of stanzas.   8/8/8/less than 8 lines 1, 2, 3 in each stanza rhymed, line 4 unrhymed   O ut of Order  gets its title from the sign on the bathroom door in this pen and ink drawing I got at a Goodwill, framed, for $1.65.   I read the sign, was thunderstruck. It's Out of Order , just my luck. No other place, I'm kinda stuck. I might just wet my pants! Perhaps though, I could sidle in, simply shut the door, just begin. But, would that be a mortal sin to disobey a sign? I've stood before the door too long. My need to get in much too strong, that even though I know it's wrong, I push my way inside. ©202 6 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Ri...

A N once  form is a poem created by an individual poet, usually for one-time use.  Depending on the poet's preference, it may be based on a pre-existing form, but will have its own structure.   So, basically, a nonce is a form for one-time use.  I wrote n ine stanzas, two rhyming lines each, with n ine syllables in each line, so a lot of N s. N ativity is my name for this diptych (an artwork in two connected parts), a term from Greek meaning " pair of writing tablets ."  I found it in the Goodwill Outlet bins, and it's one of my favorite pieces.  The artist is  Marlinde von Ruhs , which is rather incredible to find!  The two parts are hinged, trimmed in gold braid, with the backs covered in turquoise felt with beading.  It's the most incredible nativity I've ever seen! Marlinde often mounted her smaller works in felt or velvet, brocade, and gold braiding.  According to some sources she didn't want them to be just paintings in a f...