Tag: poetry

Writing Prompt Saturday- Write a Habin

How is it possible that I have never heard of this before? What with my love of haiku, sent you and tanka poetry, you would have thought I would have found Habin a long time ago.

It’s not a poetry form, strictly speaking. Think of it as more of a prose form that is designed to complement haikus. It should, in fact must, be beautiful and poetic on its own.

When writing a habin, you want to remember a few things. First, while this is prose that reads like poetry, it traditionally is impersonal. While this is hard to master, it’s not impossible. It’s really a masterful form. Think about it; you’re trying to invoke deep emotions in the reader without imparting any of your own.

I love that. It gives the reader the opportunity to decide how they feel about an image, instead of depending on what the writer thought about it.

So let’s try it. Take a haiku you’ve written, and write a habin to go along with it. If you need some inspiration, here’s one of mine.

Wetness in the air
Grey clouds heavy overhead
Washing off old snow

It’s a simple moment in a simple day, these clouds above a rain soaked ground. While the sun might be a pleasure at this dark and wet time, if there was no rain, the dark mess of the snow might linger until it’s covered by fresh again.

Our affiliate sponsor for the week is Pen Boutique. They’re still doing a ten percent off sale. Which is a pretty good deal if you’re looking to invest in a Filofax planner, like I am.

Did you write a Habin poem? Let us see it in the comment section below.

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Writing Prompt Saturday- Write An Abecedarian Poem

This post contains an affiliate link at the bottom

For those of us who have little ones, this is a poetry form that you can share with your kids. Especially if you’re kids are little enough that they’re still learning there alphabet.

Like so many other poetic forms, this poetry form started in Greece.  Ah, Greece, you’ve given us awesome food, great poetry, and an amazing collection of mythological stories.  Thank you.

An abecedarian poem will have 26 lines, because each line starts with a letter of the alphabet, going in order from A to Z.

As always, I love poetry that has rules, making your carve your creativity around natural borders like a road carved around a mountain. I think it makes you think beyond your first idea.

Here’s a great example of an abecedarian poem. It’s only an excerpt, though, because the whole text is rather long. Here’s a link to the whole thing.

Nonsense Alphabet
Edward Lear, 1812 – 1888
A

A was an ant
Who seldom stood still,
And who made a nice house
In the side of a hill.

a
Nice little ant!

B was a book
With a binding of blue,
And pictures and stories
For me and for you.

b
Nice little book!

C was a cat
Who ran after a rat;
But his courage did fail
When she seized on his tail.

c
Crafty old cat!
So try your hand at an an abecedarian poem this weekend.

What do you think about abecedarian poetry?  Did you try writing one?  Let us know in the comments below!

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Markets- Wergle Flomp Humor poetry contest

I really do love poetry in all forms.  My love affair started when I was a little girl in the most irreverent of ways, with Shel Silverstein.  If you’ve never read Where The Sidewalk Ends, A Light In The Attic or Falling Up, go read them right now.  If you read those when you were little, go read Everything On It, and get ready to cry a lot.

And so, it is in this spirit that I am so proud to tell you about the Wergle Flomp Humor poetry contest.  Just as it sounds, this is a contest devoted to poetry that makes people laugh.

Genre- Humorous poetry

Word Count- Any length is acceptable

Sub Date- April 1.  Sorry about that, I usually try to get these to you earlier, but I only just heard about it, and it was too good to pass up.

Wait Time- Non specific.

Payout- Top prize is $1,000, but there are lesser prizes as well.

And, if you’re looking to make money on your blog, don’t forget to check out Share A Sale.

Don’t forget that every Monday, I post a new literary agent on our Paper Beats World Facebook page.

Any luck with this market?  What do you think?

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Writing Prompt Saturday- Write a Senryu Poem

I’ve got a thing for Japanese poetry. I really love it. My favorite has always been the Haiku. It’s perfection is derived from its simplicity. You’ve got three lines, 17 syllables total, to show just one beautiful, natural, moment in nature.

You can imagine how excited I was, then, to find out about senryu poetry. It’s got the same basic haiku set up, three lines, 17 syllables. 5,7,5 if you don’t already know. But instead of being about nature, it’s about people.

Since I really do believe brevity is the source of wit, and I’m damn witty, here’s an example of a senryu poem that I actually wrote, for a change.

My daughters smiles
With crooked teeth and bright eyes
No better image.

Try your hand at a senryu poem this week. As always, feel free to post yours in the comment section below!

Every Thursday I start a conversation on Facebook, at the Paper Beats World page. Don’t forget to join us!

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Write prompt Saturday, Write a Eulogy.

When you think of a eulogy, the first thing that likely comes to mind is a long, tearful, inspiring speech given at someone’s funeral.  I know that was the first thing I thought of.  This is, however, an actual poetry form.  And it’s a beautiful one, at that.

Like so many other good things, eulogy poems are Greek in origin.  Their set up is standard, three stanzas made up of four lines each.  The first and second, then third and fourth lines in each should rhyme.

The stanzas of a eulogy poem are broken up by topic; the first should be a lament, the sorrow and grief of the loss.  The second stanza is a praise of the one who’s passed away.  The final stanza is solace, something good that can be taken away from this loss.

As always, I won’t subject you to my own terrible eulogy poem.  Here’s one by my favorite poet of all time, Emily Dickenson.

So Proud She Was To Die

So proud she was to die
It made us all ashamed
That what we cherished, so unknown
To her desire seemed.

So satisfied to go
Where none of us should be,
Immediately, that anguish stooped
Almost to jealousy.

If any of you get a chance, tell my husband I want that read at my funeral.

Afterthought- I wrote this post a week ago, like normal.  I had no idea when I wrote it that it would post the day after one of my favorite actors from my childhood passed on.  The world is a poorer place now that Lenard Nemoy has left us.  Let’s remember to pray for his family and friends, and thank him in our hearts for the hours of joy he brought us on stage.

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Writing Prompt Saturday- Write a Burlesque Poem

No, there’s nothing inherently inappropriate with this type of poetry. Well, maybe there is, but not in the sort of way you’re thinking. At least, there doesn’t have to be. There could be, if you wanted there to be, is what I’m saying.

A burlesque poem is one that takes a comical look at something serious. Personally, I would categorize the poem, Mighty Casey as one such poem, because I think the thought of this big shot striking out is really funny, but there are some that would not agree, I’m sure.  Possibly my favorite example would be the poem The Unicorns, by Shel Silverstein.

Take a shot at a burlesque poem this week. Then, feel free to post it in the comment section. Have a good weekend, everybody.

Don’t forget to join the discussion on Facebook- Paper Beats World

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