While looking over verse forms I came across some references to Skeletonic verse. Most references link back to Robert Lee Brewer's blog Poetic Asides, but I can't get the darn link to work. So, here's what I've been able to cobble together from other sources about the requirements for writing in this form.
- Lines should be between three and six words in length
- Every end word rhymes with the previous, until a new set of rhymes is started
- The rhyme should stay the same until it loses its energy or impact
You can read a much more academic definition at Poetry Magnum Opus - Skeletonic Verse / Tumbling Verse / Sprung Rhythm. You'll also find an example here (in ye olde English!).
You'll find a nice description at Daniels Nester's Teaching blog with examples of rap lyrics that fit this form (though perhaps not the line length).
I'll share one more example, this excerpt from an Allen Ginsberg poem.
Jumping the Gun on the Sun
by Allen Ginsberg
Sincerity
is the key
to living
in Eternity
If you love
Heav'n above
Hold your ground,
Look around
Hear the sound
of television,
No derision,
Smell your blood
taste your good
bagels & lox
Wash your sox
Read the poem in its entirety.
So, your challenge this week is to write a skeletonic verse. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll share the results later this week.
If you believe
ReplyDeletein a reprieve
then do me a favor
learn how to savor
grandma's cooking
it's not so nasty looking
actually, it is
Poor Grandma Liz.
(c) Charles Waters 2012
The Birder's Big Year
ReplyDeleteSo I hear--
Have you heard?--
The Big year
Is a bit absurd
As birders steer
Towards every bird.
They fly around
They car, they train.
Eyes on the ground,
The large terrain.
They hear the sound,
They count the gain.
And in the end
What do they count?
What do they spend?
What's the amount?
They spend the heart,
They gain the sky,
They earn a part
Of God's blue eye,
A birder's art:
They learn to fly. . .
and fly. . ..
and fly.
©2012 Jane Yolen, all rights reserved
A Shoe for Tying
ReplyDeleteWhen learning to tie,
You should give it a try
On a carefully chosen shoe.
The shoe should be new,
Preferably blue,
Extra large too,
Not belonging to you.
The shoe should have laces,
And never make faces
When fingers go places
There shouldn’t be spaces.
Its tongue must not fight
Even if you should bite
While pulling it tight
With all of your might.
Its toe must not tap
To your shoe-tying rap.
It should sit in your lap
And take a nice nap,
Though it might feel a whap
As its strings flip and flap.
The shoe must sit still
No matter how shrill
You scream with the thrill
Of tying it.
(c) 2012 Liz Steinglass, all rights reserved
Cat
ReplyDeleteCat stare
from armchair,
from mid-air,
from top stair.
Cat slides,
slinks, glides.
Cat bides,
cat hides.
Cat sleeps,
wakes, creeps,
sees, leaps!
Catches heaps
of blue string.
Paws swing,
bat and fling.
Cat crouches,
yawns, slouches,
scales couches.
Jumps down
with cat frown.
Whirls around,
cat clown.
Tries for tail,
bound to fail.
Small wail,
sets sail
for my lap—
cat nap.
--Kate Coombs, 2012,
all rights reserved
I tried being Skeltonic, too. My results are here:
ReplyDeleteSpeak Up!
Interesting form. Thanks for the prompt!
running river
ReplyDeleterunning river,
sluice and sliver—
shiver, shimmer,
slip and quiver.
turning here,
twisting there,
silvered hair,
braided, rare.
sinewy, slim,
turgid, grim—
liquid skin,
amaranth grin.
forward-facing,
fingers lacing,
racing, racing,
river tracing—
twisting here,
turning there,
open-air
love affair.
Please indulge me--I have revised my poem:
ReplyDeleteThe Birder's Big Year
So I hear--
Have you heard?
The Big Year,
Quite absurd.
Birders steer
Toward every bird.
They fly around
They car, they train.
Eyes on the ground,
The large terrain.
They hear the sound,
They tote the gain.
And in the end
What do they count?
What do they spend?
What's the amount?
They spend the heart,
They gain the sky,
They earn a part
Of God's blue eye,
A birder's art:
They learn to fly. . .
and fly. . ..
and fly.
©2012 Jane Yolen All rights reserved
You have intrigued me, so I tried, & am also in the Valentine mood!
ReplyDeleteHey sunshine,
It is so fine
that you are mine.
I know a line
that makes me thine.
But don’t have time
to give a sign.
You’ll have to pine
till I make the rhyme.
Please don’t whine.
You are divine-
My Valentine!