Posts Tagged ‘Poetry Forms’
Thursday, October 3rd, 2013
Happy birthday to Chubby Checker! The father of the twist (my favorite dance) was born October 3, 1941.
I thought I’d celebrate with an acrostic limerick, which is as mind-bending as the twist is body-bending:
Acrostic Limerick Ode To Chubby Checker
By Madeleine Begun Kane
There’s a dance with a hot checkered past.
We grooved on its moves — whirling fast!
I still do it today,
Shifting weight, as I sway–
Twirling waist motion, saucily cast.
If you’re asking yourself, “What’s an acrostic limerick?” here’s some info:
In an acrostic poem, the first letter of each line should, taken together, spell out the topic of your poem. Please note that it’s NOT enough to spell out a word; Your limerick or other poem must describe or otherwise directly relate to that word.
Tags: Acrostic Limerick, Acrostic Poems, Acrostic Poetry Challenge, Celebrity Birthdays, Chubby Checker, Dance Humor, Dance Limerick, Music Limerick, Poetry Forms, Twist
Posted in Acrostic Limericks, Acrostic Madness, Acrostic Poetry Prompts, Limericks, Poetry & Prompts, Poetry Forms, Poetry Rules, Writing & Publishing Humor | 16 Comments »
Thursday, July 4th, 2013
I’ve decided to post an extra challenge this week, just in case my Limerick-Offs aren’t keeping you busy enough. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to write an ACROSTIC poem that has something to do with FOOD, in any form you choose, be it limerick, haiku, quatrain, tanka, etc.
What’s an acrostic poem?
In an acrostic poem, the first letter of each line should, taken together, spell out the topic of your poem. Please note that it’s NOT enough to spell out a word; Your limerick or other poem must describe or otherwise directly relate to that word.
I’ll illustrate with an acrostic limerick, bolding the first letter of each line, for emphasis:
Acrostic Spice (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Sometimes people like food that is bland.
Perhaps some enjoy cooking that’s canned.
I, in case I can’t savor
Cuisine that lacks flavor,
Embellish the dishes, by hand.
UPDATE: June 10th is National Herbs And Spices Day and August 19 is Hot And Spicy Food Day.
Tags: Acrostic Limerick, Acrostic Poems, Acrostic Poetry Challenge, Food Limerick, Hot And Spicy Food Day, June Holidays, National Herbs And Spices Day, Odd Holidays, Poetry Forms, Spices Humor, Spicy Food
Posted in Acrostic Limericks, Acrostic Madness, Acrostic Poetry Prompts, Food & Drink Humor, Limericks, Odd Holidays, Poetry & Prompts, Poetry Forms, Poetry Rules, Writing & Publishing Humor | 16 Comments »
Thursday, June 13th, 2013
I’ve decided to post an extra challenge this week, just in case my Limerick-Offs aren’t keeping you busy enough. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to write an ACROSTIC poem that has something to do with MUSIC, in any form you choose, be it limerick, haiku, quatrain, tanka, etc.
What’s an acrostic poem?
In an acrostic poem, the first letter of each line should, taken together, spell out the topic of your poem.
I’ll illustrate with an acrostic limerick, bolding the first letter of each line, for emphasis:
Oh the sound of this instrument’s glorious,
But playing it’s rather laborious.
Out a thin double reed
Emerge notes that indeed
Sound sweetly intense, or uproarious.
Tags: Acrostic Limerick, Acrostic Poems, Acrostic Poetry Challenge, Music Limerick, Oboe, Poetry Forms
Posted in Acrostic Limericks, Acrostic Madness, Acrostic Poetry Prompts, Limericks, Poetry & Prompts, Poetry Forms, Poetry Rules, Writing & Publishing Humor | 6 Comments »
Thursday, July 26th, 2012
This is my second attempt at macaronic verse — a poem that mixes two languages in a humorous manner. While Latin is often the second language, this macaronic limerick uses musical terms:
Macaronic Music
By Madeleine Begun Kane
If you fiddle around while I speak,
Then I’ll trumpet your lousy technique.
If you flaut me, beware!
Your bass secret will air —
Broken G string and all, horny freak!
(Poets United prompts us to writing something about sound.)
Tags: Macaronic Verse, Music Humor & Verse, Music Limerick, Poetry Forms
Posted in Light Verse, Limericks, Macaronic Verse, Music Humor & Verse, Music Poems, Poetry Forms | 14 Comments »
Tuesday, July 10th, 2012
I just found out that today (July 10) is National Clerihew Day. What the heck’s a clerihew? It’s a “whimsical, four-line biographical poem invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley.”
More specifically, clerihews are four-lines long with an A-A-B-B rhyme scheme and irregular meter. The first line names a person — the subject of the poem.
Here are a couple I’ve written about writers:
Edgar Allen Poe
A writerly bro
Who’s famed for the Raven.
What a scary poem maven!
*****
The author George Orwell
We ought not ignore well;
His writings polemic
Ain’t at all academic.
*****
And here are two about actresses:
Bette Davis
Film joy gave us.
Seduced gals and guys
With Bette Davis Eyes.
*****
Mae West
For life had zest.
Stoked gals and blokes
With “evil” jokes.
*****
(You can find my political clerihews here.)
Happy birthday to George Orwell, born June 25, 1903.
Tags: Bette Davis, Clerihew, Edgar Allen Poe, Edmund Clerihew Bentley, George Orwell, July Holidays, June Birthdays, Mae West, National Clerihew Day, Poetry Forms
Posted in Actors & Actresses, Authors & Playwrights, Books, Celebrations Poetry, Celebrity Humor, Clerihews, Holiday Humor, Limericks, Poetry Forms, Public Figures | 8 Comments »
Friday, July 6th, 2012
This week Poetic Bloomings introduces us to a new (to me) form: the “loop.” While the form has several variations, the essential requirement is:
In each stanza, the last word of the first line becomes the first word of line two. The last word of line 2 becomes the first word of line 3. The last word of line 3 becomes the first word of line 4.
While limericks aren’t mentioned as an option, I decided to try a “limerick loop.” Here’s what happened:
Looped (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
This poetry form leaves me looped.
Looped’s the least of my problems. I’m pooped:
Pooped at trying to write.
Writing’s often a fight.
Fight I must, or with slackers be grouped.
Tags: Limerick Loop, Limericks, Loop, Poetic Bloomings, Poetry Forms, Writing & Publishing Humor, Writing Prompts
Posted in Poetry & Prompts, Writing & Publishing Humor | 2 Comments »
Thursday, April 19th, 2012
Once in a while I like to experiment with a new (to me) poetry form. Today, its the framed couplet, explained in detail and illustrated over at dVerse by Gay Reiser Cannon. (The main rules are: 9 syllable lines, the first syllable of each line is accented, and both the first and last syllable of each couplet line rhyme.) Here are my two attempts:
The Quest
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Poetry and prose in fits and starts,
Knowing that my words can open hearts.
Writing’s daily challenge — must confront.
Light or heavy verse — I’m on the hunt.
Trying out new forms can lead the way,
Prying out the words I need to say,
Freeing up my brain and letting loose,
Keying into that which cuts my noose.
*****
The List
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Naming all the things that I must do.
Blaming times’s escape, when I do few.
Toting up the items left undone.
Noticing my list is missing fun.
*****
Tags: Creative Prompts, Creativity, DVerse, Framed Couplets, Gay Reiser Cannon, List Humor, Muse, Poetry Forms, Writing & Publishing Humor
Posted in Chores Humor, Creativity Verse, Framed Couplets, Poetry Forms, Writing & Publishing Humor | 36 Comments »
Thursday, March 1st, 2012
Every once in a while I like to experiment with a new (to me) form. Today, it’s the quatern.
Writer’s Digest’s Poetic Asides Blog, which is holding a quatern contest, describes the form as follows:
Quatern Poetic Form Rules
1. This poem has 16 lines broken up into 4 quatrains (or 4-line stanzas).
2. Each line is comprised of eight syllables.
3. The first line is the refrain. In the second stanza, the refrain appears in the second line; in the third stanza, the third line; in the fourth stanza, the fourth (and final) line.
4. There are no rules for rhyming or iambics.
Here’s the quatern I submitted to WD’s contest:
Queasy About Quaterns
By Madeleine Begun Kane
As I attempt to write this verse,
I must confess I start to curse.
A quatern is what’s been assigned.
Already I am in a bind.
I feel confused and somewhat terse,
As I attempt to write this verse.
So please forgive me if I whine.
My limericks are where I shine.
I’d like to stop, but can’t refrain
From trying this quatern again.
As I attempt to write this verse,
I fear that it is getting worse.
I’m tempted to reject this form.
About its rules I feel lukewarm.
I’m getting ill. I need a nurse,
As I attempt to write this verse.
Tags: Poetic Asides, Poetry Contest, Poetry Forms, Quaterns, Quatrains, Writer's Digest, Writing & Publishing Humor, Writing Competitions, Writing Prompts
Posted in Poetry Contest, Poetry Forms, Poetry Rules, Quaterns, Writing & Publishing Humor | 7 Comments »
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
I took a break from limerick writing to write this pair of tanka:
When haiku won’t do,
when thoughts defy compression
and can’t be contained
in seventeen syllables,
give thanks to plus-sized tanka.
********
Some art inspires
tears, joy, admiration, love.
Some awakens thought.
And some makes one want to ask:
“Whatever were you thinking?”
********
Tags: Art Humor, Creativity, Modern Art, Poetry Forms, Tanka, Writing & Publishing Humor, Writing Tanka
Posted in Creativity Verse, Poetry Forms, Tanka, Writing & Publishing Humor | 7 Comments »
Monday, April 25th, 2011
First off, this limerick (despite its name) has nothing to do with macaroni. I’m not suffering from Passover pasta-withdrawal. Nor do my dreams (or nightmares) ever feature anything of a noodle nature.
So why the title? I just learned, from the delightfully informative Miss Rumphius, about the rare and usually comic form called macaronic verse. What the heck is macaronic verse? We’re told that it’s a usually absurd and nonsensical “poem in a mixture of two languages, one of them preferably Latin,” and that “the poet usually subjects one language to the grammatical laws of another to make people laugh.”
So naturally I had to try it, mixing legal terms (mostly Latin) in with standard limerick English:
Macaronic Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane
The corpus is AWOL. Oh my!
I attest that I left it hereby.
What a bona fide mess.
My mentis has stress.
It’s de facto I mortemed that fly.
(Linked at We Write Poems pairings prompt.)
Tags: April Holidays, Insect and Bug Humor, Jewish Holidays, Law Humor, Legal Jargon, Legal Limerick, Light Verse, Macaronic Verse, Passover, Poetry Forms, Stress Humor
Posted in Holiday Humor, Insect Humor, Light Verse, Limericks, Macaronic Verse, Poetry Forms, Poetry Rules | 32 Comments »
Friday, April 1st, 2011
Limerick Lament
By Madeleine Begun Kane
There are times that I feel like a tool,
Complying with each lim’rick rule.
So starting today
I refuse to obey.
Don’t believe me? You’re right. April Fool!
(My 2nd National Poetry Month poem, and it’s still April 1st. Yippee!)
Tags: April Fools' Day, April Holidays, Limerick Rules, Poetry Forms, Writing & Publishing Humor
Posted in Celebrations Poetry, Creativity Verse, Holiday Humor, Limericks, Poetry Forms, Poetry Rules, Writing & Publishing Humor | 17 Comments »
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
Salute To Satire
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Funny,
yet insightful,
making people ponder
as it soundly zaps its targets.
Witty,
subtle, pointed ammunition
aims, fires, amuses,
inciting us
to think.
(Author’s Note: This is a Butterfly Cinquain. The syllable count is 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, 8, 6, 4, 2. At least, I hope it’s a Butterfly Cinquain — I’ve never tried writing one before.)
Tags: Butterfly Cinquain, Poetry Forms, Satire
Posted in Cinquains, Poetry Forms, Poetry Rules, Wordplay | 13 Comments »
Saturday, March 19th, 2011
So far, March has been a big month for celebratory limericks. I’ve already limericked about International Women’s Day, Daylight Savings Time, Pi Day, and St. Patrick’s Day. And now it’s time for a two-verse limerick celebrating World Poetry Day, which falls on March 21st:
Limerick Ode To World Poetry Day
By Madeleine Begun Kane
On World Poetry Day write some verse,
Or in poetry reading immerse.
Try a lim’rick, haiku,
Sonnet, ode, clerihew —
Something witty, or languid, or terse.
On World Poetry Day have some fun:
Compose quatrains, blank verse, or haibun.
Double dactyl, sestina —
The poet’s arena
Will even permit you to pun.
UPDATE: I discovered and corrected some serious errors on Wikipedia’s World Poetry Day page (Google’s top entry for the World Poetry Day topic.) The most glaring error was made more than a month ago, on February 15th, by someone who apparently was manipulating Wikipedia on behalf of a UK-based “global grocery and general merchandising retailer” named Tesco. All references to UNESCO, which had declared March 21st to be World Poetry Day, had been changed to TESCO.
I was stunned that nobody was monitoring Wikipedia well enough to catch and correct this error, and that it took me, an infrequent Wikipedia user, to fix it.
So let that be a lesson to people who rely on Wikipedia. While it’s often useful, it’s far from the gospel. And if you find errors there, be a good Internet citizen and fix them.
One more thing — I urge all poets and writers who are at all publicity-minded, to create their own Wikipedia page. Here’s mine.
UPDATE 2: Commenter Tilly Bud inspired me to combine my two limericks, turning them into a two-verse limerick. Thanks, Tilly!
Tags: Celebrations Poetry, Holiday Humor, March Holidays, Odd Holidays, Poetry Forms, Seasonal Verse, World Poetry Day
Posted in Celebrations Poetry, Holiday Humor, Limericks, Odd Holidays, Poems About Poems, Poetry Forms, Seasons Humor, Writing & Publishing Humor | 32 Comments »
Friday, February 29th, 2008
Today’s limerick and haiku theme is walking. First, my limerick:
Ode To A New York City Walk Signal
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Oh WALK light, you change way too fast.
Your pedestrian green doesn’t last.
You force me to run
Cross the street, which ain’t fun.
So thanks for this cumbersome cast.
And now, my walking-related haiku:
Solitary stroll
To escape the telephone.
Cell phone outsmarts me.
Now, of course, it’s your turn. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to write a limerick or haiku (or both) about walking. When you’ve posted your verse, please return here and add a direct link to your themed poetry.
(If you need some tips on limerick or haiku writing, I link to some helpful sites here.)
NOTE: My Ode To A New York City Walk Signal limerick is an apostrophe. And no, I’m not referring to a punctuation mark. Miss Rumphius tells us that an “apostrophe is a poem which directly addresses a person or thing that is generally absent.” So I thought I’d address one to a walk signal that’s tormented my husband and me for years.
Tags: Apostrophe, Cell Phones, Pedestrians, Poetry & Prompts, Poetry Forms, Solitude, Traffic Lights, Traffic Signals, Walking Humor
Posted in Haiku & Senryu, Limerick & Haiku Prompts, Limericks, Outdoors Humor, Poetry & Prompts, Poetry Forms, Telephone Humor, Walking Humor | 12 Comments »
