To Villanelle and Back, an article in James Fenton's poetry masterclass, examines various forms and their challenges. I particularly love this excerpt.
What an interesting idea! Here is how the resulting poem begins.John Fuller, in response to a competition challenge, set out to write a poem consisting only of three-letter words. And in order to add to the interest, he decided on a form in which there were three three-letter words per line, and the lines came in groups of three.
The Kiss
by John Fuller
Who are you
You who may
Die one day
Who saw the
Fat bee and
The owl fly
Read the poem in its entirety (scroll down the page to find it).
This fantastic poem has me wondering what kind of poems can be crafted using only three-letter words. That is your challenge. Please share a link to your poem or the poem itself in the comments.
Day
ReplyDeleteAnd she saw
the sun fly,
red and big,
her own toy.
Day was lit.
She ran out,
joy her way.
—Kate Coombs, 2015,
all rights reserved
THE DEMON
ReplyDeleteI don’t know
Where to go
When Daddy yells
At his demons.
Once again he
Lost another battle
With Jim Beam,
His long time
Rival since childhood.
Mom’s recovering in
Their bedroom from
Two double fisted
Crosses to both
Sides of her
Bruised visage, I
Spot a flask
Of his opponent
On the table.
“Hey,” I say
Pointing toward salvation
“Is that full?”
When he turns,
Picks it up,
I bolt out
the door, Surging
into daylight, refusing
To answer the
Bell for Round 2.
(c) Charles Waters 2015 all rights reserved.
Very nice poem, Charles.
DeleteLove love love this challenge, Tricia (I've been working on a collection of poems written using only the 200 most common words in English for more than 10 years now!). And Kate, I feel like you and John Fuller have written the two best 3x3x3 poems already. But here's my try, starting with day also:
ReplyDeleteNew Day
Let fly now,
hen; hop, lay
egg. Low, cow,
eat hay. Dog,
dig and wag;
pig, hog the
mud. Bee, hum;
ram and ewe,
coo. Cat nip
rat; ass, bay.
New day,
ask not for
any new way!
Just saw a place where I need a revision--but it's bedtime now!
ReplyDeleteCharles, what a sadly powerful metaphor, especially the last line! Thanks, Heidi--I like your farm! And revision makes for a good new day. :)
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHow. . .
How can you
not joy
red sky,
map its sun,
its dew lap.
How can you
not joy
sky eve,
owl fly,
sol
nap.
How
can
you
not?
Jane Yolen ©2015 All rights reserved
Music
ReplyDeleteNot the she, nor the son,
nor sea, nor air, nor owl eye,
far off can see the how, the why,
but the one try,
--for the ear--, Let fly
the din the day
all men hum!
Two-day Rag (3x3x4)
ReplyDeleteOne day old,
two day new.
One day all,
two day few.
One day pig,
two day ham.
One day gin,
two day jam.
One day hip,
two day hop.
One day yay,
two day not.
One day rum.
two day gay.
One day sot,
two day pay.
One day tip,
two day tap.
One day zit,
two day zap.
One day fit,
two day fat.
One day sit,
two day splat!