Monday, April 06, 2009

Monday Poetry Stretch - Bite-Sized Sonnet

While working on the recent Poetry Makers interviews, I spent quite a bit of time with Avis Harley's book Fly With Poetry: An ABC of Poetry. There are several forms I want to try, but the one that has me really thinking this week is the Sonnet, or at least her bite-sized version. A bit-sized sonnet follows the rhyme scheme of a "traditional sonnet," but it's not written in iambic pentameter. Instead, each line contains only one syllable. Here's Avis' poem.
A Bite-Sized Sonnet

House
sleeps.
Mouse
creeps
in
through
thin
flue.

Spots
cheese;
stops.
Sees
cat.
SCAT!

Poem
©Avis Harley. All rights reserved.
So, the challenge is to write your own bite-sized sonnet. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.


12 comments:

  1. Ooh, nice stretch! I'm going to give one-syllable lines a try. Meanwhile, here's one where each line has two syllables (well, the word "poets" has to be said very fast like "potes" :-) and the ampersands don't count because they're symbols....I know, I know - but I'm not a purist. I'll post later in the week if I come up with a one-syllabler.

    Poem Written to a Friend Upon Reading Huizinga's HOMO LUDENS

    Poets on
    play-grounds:
    words sound
    like song
    & sing ping-
    ponged rope-
    rhymes, hop-
    scotch. Bring
    the ball
    (sonnet
    on it)
    & if small
    bees sting—
    look! Swings!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Closed
    eyes
    Posed
    Smile;
    Free
    soul
    flees
    alone;
    Dark
    skies
    call
    lights;
    Hope
    born.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What fun! Here's one.

    Hip,
    hup!
    Step
    up!
    One,
    two.
    Shine
    shoe.

    Shh-ch-shh-ch-shhh…
    Shh-ch-shh-ch-shhh…

    Buff’s
    done.
    Scuff’s
    gone.
    Yep.
    Hup!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow--this is tough. (And I love to write sonnets.) But finally, and with only one cheat:

    How to Write A Poem

    Insight
    Now.
    Write
    And how.
    Butt.
    Chair.
    What?
    Where?

    Heart
    Pains,
    Art
    Gains.
    Bleed.
    Read.

    c 2009 Jane Yolen

    ReplyDelete
  5. And it's still only Monday!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well, "again" has two syllables. But the rest works, if only technically and not aesthetically:

    Spring
    comes,
    brings
    dumb
    trees
    words
    ("leaf",
    "bird")
    and
    then
    lands.
    Again,
    green's
    queen.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi there! I found my way here traipsing through poetry month links... what a great place! Here's my fun little attempt in honor of Carolina's NCAA basketball win!

    Star
    feel:
    Tar
    heel
    last
    round.
    Fast
    pound,
    shoot,
    score!
    Root
    for
    Roy's
    boys!

    ReplyDelete
  8. My son started high school this year. It's been a rough year for him confidence wise, and hard for me to watch him…

    Son
    slams
    door
    grabs
    pack
    sets
    chin
    Squares
    shoulders
    Strides
    into
    soul
    jail.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm calling this...

    A LITTLE ROMANCE

    Date
    One -
    Great
    Fun.
    "He's
    sweet."
    "She's
    neat."

    "Likes
    art!"
    "Bikes!
    Smart!"
    Kiss.
    Bliss!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm finally here. Thanks for the great opportunity to stretch!

    Here are the two I came up with this week. I cheated a bit - I changed the line breaks a bit and did a near-rhyme in one case.

    June
    night.
    Moon
    bright.

    Cat
    purrs.
    Rat
    stirs.

    Rat races.
    Cat chases.
    Prey fray.

    ***

    Late night.
    Moon light.
    Can’t sleep.
    Count sheep.

    Sigh.
    Close eyes.
    Doze.
    Theme: Dream.

    ReplyDelete
  11. These are wonderful -- what a great challenge, Tricia, what great outcomes, everyone...

    I've posted mine here: Downturn.

    ReplyDelete
  12. That was really interesting... Here is my Trial:

    Love
    Hurts
    Shove
    Darts
    In
    Heart
    Being
    Smart.

    Can’t
    Smile
    Rant
    Pile

    Spry
    Cloud
    Cry
    Loud
    On
    Knees
    None
    Sees
    Seize!


    Tan, from Thus Wrote Tan!

    Happy Easter to all of you :)

    ReplyDelete