A winter tale of gusting winds
the might-have-beens
his tale of woe
forsaken beau
She left him ‘neath the midnight moon
collapsed in swoon
his feet like stone
his heart didst moan
Her kiss did curse his soul that night
his monstrous plight
’tis blood he needs
on necks he feeds
Written for dVerse, the virtual pub for poets. Today Frank asks us to write a Minute Poem. Another poetic sudoku! Entire poem contains three 4-line stanzas and a total of 60 syllables. Each stanza must have 20 syllables and a syllabic structure/ rhyme scheme arranged in this manner:
Stanza One: line 1 = 8 syllables, end rhyme word A; line 2= 4 syllables, A again; line 3 = 4 syllables, end rhyme word B; line 4 = 4 syllables, B again.
Stanza Two: identical to above EXCEPT rhyme scheme is CCDD.
Stanza Three: identical to above EXCEPT rhyme scheme is EEFF.
And to throw in one more constraint for good “measure” — it should be in iambic meter
which is short, long accent; short long accent; etc.
And of course, the challenge is to have the sense of the poem outshine the form!
Marvelous! 🥀🥀🥀
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Thank you!
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Oh wow! I’m not sure whether to swoon or shiver. Such a mysterious piece!
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Swoon away 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
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Kudos!! This had be such a challenge with all the stipulations for the poem! Awesome poem! 🙂
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Thank you, Adda. It’s called rewrite, rewrite, count, look up rhymes, count, read aloud for beats etc. Glad you enjoyed!
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It’s a form that doesn’t suit every subject. It always strikes me as being not quite serious. Your poem nails it. Nice one!
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Wow, Lillian, I love a chilling vampire tale, and to squeeze it into this form is indeed a feat! The first two lines are fab:
‘A winter tale of gusting winds
the might-have-beens’.
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Somehow this vampire thing was just birthed by my pen with this form. Glad you enjoyed.
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I enjoyed the flipping of the expected roles here, where he becomes cursed and is left swooning. Makes me wonder who he kissed- Medusa? Nicely done!
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Thanks!
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Dark and chilling tale Lillian ~ You set the tone and mood from the first opening line ~
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Thank you, Grace.
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Gosh–gush, I love this. Vamp poetics are aways fun. You aced the “difficult” form, and soared with the bats & banshees, I’ve noticed, starting with my own poem, the form creates those short colorful lines, that after blue penciling, seem to write themselves–and the piece feels a bit classical when done.
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blue penciling indeed………form poems really challenge me and I end up editing the wazoo out of my words to fit the form. Glad you enjoyed this one!
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Creepy vampire poem, but with a beautiful, soothing sound. It looks to me like the form was perfect. I liked the rhyme between “winds” and “beens” in the first two lines.
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Glad you enjoyed, Frank. A very interesting form to work with!
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creepy but brilliant, Lilian 🙂
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Thanks!
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I like the description – poetry sudoku, indeed! I always feel it’s more like a jigsaw disguised as a crossword puzzle. Anyhow, you nailed it, and gave us a big juicy gothic horror show as well.
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However you describe ’em — I always find “form poems” a challenge. So….glad you enjoyed this one!
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very malevolent. Your poem made the form look easy…Superb.XX
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Love the word “malevolent” — glad you enjoyed!
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Yikes. And here I am thinking it is such a mirthful form. Maybe no so! Nicely done.
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Short but not so sweet???? 🙂 Just a minute for the creepy!
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Definitely WOW-worthy!
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Glad you enjoyed!
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Sure did, you’re welcome 🙂
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She stood up the vempire? Bet that just made his blood cold
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….of boiling red????
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🤣
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Now here is a disturbing piece, but a tale well told. Yours was the first minute poem I read because it came in my email. After that I was intrigued. Great work.
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Glad you took a minute to reply 🙂 Pun intended and reply truly appreciated!
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Gave me a chill and a thrill!
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I’ll take a chill in this hot summer weather! 🙂
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One of these days I’ve gotta write about a Chinese vampire in old Mandarin garb. Thanks for the inpiration!
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Vampires in the night…..of any persuasion! 🙂
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A skillful minute poem, providing shivers along the way!
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A few shivers in this hot hot weather…..
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Your form is perfect, but the sense of the poem definitely outshone the syllable count, rhyme, and meter.
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Thank you, Linda. I am always challenged by “form poems” and usually have to spend a long time rewriting and rewriting and rewriting!
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Love this!! Well written!
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Thank you!
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You’re very welcome.
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Perfect was to use this form – and a spooky tale too
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Thank you!
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’tis blood he needs
on necks he feeds
A vampire tale where feeding time is at the first opportunity. He was rightly abandoned for that!
Hank
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