J. Patrick Lewis has invented a new poetry form he calls the "zeno" - it's syllabic, with the following pattern for its ten lines: 8/4/2/1/4/2/1/4/2/1 (number of syllables.) All one-syllable lines rhyme (fourth, seventh and tenth lines.)
Tricia featured this over at The Miss Rumphius Effect as this week's Poetry Stretch - with great results! And I think a good time was had by all. Here are my contributions (title of the first is a tad long):
In a Nice Restaurant, I Use My Fingers to Tap Out Syllables on the Tablecloth, Which Worries the Nice Couple at the Next Table Who Appear to Be Having a Romantic Anniversary Dinner
Constantly counting syllables
alarms the shrinks.
While some
probe
tales about our
frontal
lobes,
none dare call us
zeno-
phobes.
* * * * *
A Zeno to Ze Nose
Ze nose eez nice, eet smell ze rose,
eet shine so pink
with wine.
Ooh-
la-la, ze nose
eet grows
blue -
eet drip, eet honk,
eet ah-
chooo.
------------------------
The Poetry Friday round-up this week is hosted by Jennie over at Biblio File. See what other people are up to!
Leave it to Pat to invent a new poetry form, and leave it to you to rise to the challenge!
ReplyDeleteI love how you take your poetry "assignments" and totally bust out of the box with them. The first poem, especially, is hilarious (says she who not only taps her fingers in public but occasionally catches herself writing in her head while she walks, making sympathetic facial movements mimicking her character's actions. Eep.)
ReplyDeleteHilarious!! and so fine!
ReplyDeleteYour restaurant title reminds me of the looks I get around campus as I walk and count. I do believe I walk in iambic pentameter, bouncing up and down as I step to the stresses.
ReplyDeleteYour second poem required a thorough cleaning of my computer screen!
These are great! I almost laughed coffee out my nose while reading the title of the first one. Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeletei like these! perfect diversions from the deadlines
ReplyDeletei ig-
nore.
the pattern fun
to ex-
plore,
despite rhymes i
must grope
for.
(ach! curse you blogger and your inability to preserve my line breaks!)
ReplyDeleteHere's is David's with first line break restored!
ReplyDeletei like these! perfect diversions
from the deadlines
i ig-
nore.
the pattern fun
to ex-
plore,
despite rhymes i
must grope
for.
[David - two hyphens! I hope you will join Pat and me in the Imaginary Anthology of Acopated Verse.]
thanks for the fix, julie!. i was really hoping i could hold out until i found a third rhyme to hyphenate (adore? abhor? cuspidor?) but in the end decided to stick with my gut.
ReplyDeletenow, back to that packet...
Eez brilliant!!
ReplyDelete*hands the poet a tissue*
This is just to say, I am delighted to have discovered your blog, Julie!
ReplyDeleteAnn Teplick
Thanks, Ann - and thanks to all who enjoyed the results of Pat's inventiveness and Tricia's nudge. If you haven't tried a zeno yet, try one soon - they're fun.
ReplyDeleteHere's a tardy tip o' the cap to you, Julie, and to zeno makers every one. I'm delighted and encouraged by the response. I leave the subject (for now) with one more zeno:
ReplyDeleteA Third Grader Reflects
On the Good Old Days
Why isn’t elementary school
filled with sizzle,
fizz and
buzz?
I wish I knew
why be-
cause
kindergarten
always
was.
Can anything ever measure up to kindergarten, Pat? Those little rugs you brought from home and got to lie down on for a quick nap, the easels and aprons for painting, the many stories read aloud, the musical instruments (who ever gets to play on sandpaper blocks again? or bang on a cow bell?), the graham crackers at snack time, and whole bins full of balls and jump ropes at recess!! I bet more kids would get through high school if we could provide them with that kind of daily itinerary.
ReplyDeleteGreat zeno from the Zeno Man himself. Thanks, Pat.
Love, love, love that first one especially (and its title).
ReplyDelete