Sunday, April 9, 2017

PAD Day 9: Obsession with the Muse

Today's dual prompts from Poetic Asides and NaPoWriMo: (1) write a poem with the title "So ______", and (2) write a poem in a nine-line form. There are a number of nine-line forms to chose from - the most famous being the Spenserian stanza (ala "The Fairie Queene"). Donald Hall also sometimes writes in nine-line stanzas, more or less free verse, but with nine syllables per line. I wrote a long poem in that form called "Nine Innings" that was published in Spitball Magazine and appeared in my last chapbook, Hits and Sacrifices. Today though, I tried a new form created by poet Jan Turner called the "Trijan Refrain". It's three stanzas with a rhyme scheme is ABAB(D/C)CDDC, where D is a repeated four-syllable refrain, and the syllable count (preferably in iambic) is 8,6,8,6,8,8,4,4,8. The refrains are supposed to change from verse to verse, but I thought keeping the same refrain intensfied the message and perhaps the humor of the piece.


So Committed

My basement's flooded - I don't care,
I hope it drains away.
I haven't got a thing to wear -
today's not laundry day.
I need to write - those things can wait,
I've shut the phone and locked the gate,
I need to write,
I need to write,
It's not a matter for debate.

My basement's flooded - I don't care,
Perhaps I'll sail away.
I'm down to wearing underwear -
don't visit me today.
I need to write - it's everything,
my mission is to make words sing,
I need to write,
I need to write,
I must tap my creative spring.

The basement's flooded to the stair,
my stuff is floating out.
And now I'm naked in my chair,
with water all about.
I need to write, I need to give,
my roof is leaking like a sieve,
I need to write,
I need to write,
What kind of way is this to live?





1 comment:

Vince Gotera said...

Bruce, great job! That form looks like a bear. Your refrain is very smart, and it was brave of you to keep that refrain throughout. I need to remember to try that one. Bravo!