Before they set out to jog, runners stretch to loosen their muscles. Poets might benefit from stretching mentally. Apart from the all too familiar common measure and ballad verse, here are a few lesser-known forms that could prove helpful to flexing one’s muscles and extending one’s reach beyond the traditional formal verse forms or free verse.
Click to download a free PDF from U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis:
_________________________
J. Patrick Lewis © 2011.
Thank you J.Patrick.
I’m doing my exercise.
Jeanne Poland
So many forms to learn, it makes me dizzy! (In a good way.) Thanks for sharing.
I tried the Welsh verse form Rhupunt for this one. Thanks, Pat, for sharing these exercises:
Jurassic Fish
By Steven Withrow
My deepest wish:
To catch a fish
That dwarfs a whale.
To hook and reel
By look and feel
A monster’s tail.
But I’m too late
To cast my bait
For bones so strong
And razor sharp.
I’ve only carp
To string along.
I’d settle for
A man o’ war
Or basking shark
If one will break
For pity’s sake
From fathoms dark.
©2011 Steven Withrow, all rights reserved
J. Patrick Lewis, thanks for the workout and thanks for the post. What fun.
Lots of new ways to play with words. Thanks for sharing, Patrick. I tried a Zeno.
The New England forest explodes!
Shy green dares to
become
bold–
yellow, crimson,
russet,
gold;
fall’s memory
meant to
hold.
© 2011 Joyce Ray