Monday, February 23, 2015

Monday Poetry Stretch - Karanamala

In the book Leap Into Poetry: More ABCs of Poetry, written and illustrated by Avis Harley, you'll find descriptions and examples of many different poetic forms. This week I want to try writing a poem that uses karanamala. Here's how Avis defines it.

Karanamala: word repetition from one phrase to another, linking the ideas together.

Here is an example.

Katydid

Katy-DID-katy-DID, how did it begin,
your summertime magical musical din?

egg to larva and dream the song
larva to adult and make it strong
adult to wings and shape the art
wings to rubbing and play their part
rubbing to song then fiddle and bow
katy-DID-katy-DID is all that I know ...

Poem ©Avis Harley. All rights reserved.

I hope you'll join me this week in writing karanamala. Please share a link to your poem or the poem itself in the comments.

5 comments:



  1. Blackbird.



    Blackbird, I see you, pecking away
    pecking the soil, day after day.
    Day after day, hour after hour
    searching for something nice to devour.
    Devour a worm?, is that your dream?,
    dream away bird, not all's as it seems!.



    Hi, I like this idea 'Karanamala'. This is my attempt, I don't think I've quite got it though!, please advise?.



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    Replies
    1. I like it, Maria Francis! I think technically each line should reference the previous line with a word or a phrase, but poems vary (they're supposed to!) and I like what you've done, especially "dream away bird."

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    2. P.S. Is Francis your last name? I was thinking of the whole thing as a two-part first name/first and middle, like Becky Sue or something! Anyhoo. ;)

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  2. Seasons

    Winter ice like ice cream, ice dream,
    with chocolatey fudge on top,
    fudge like spring mud, sliding sideways into
    spring grass holding Easter eggs
    in baskets, baskets the color of sand,
    sand on a summer beach, where waves
    break like wind scatters green leaves,
    leaves that will turn colors in the fall
    when they pile up the way drifts of snow
    pile up in winter, winter ice like ice cream.

    —Kate Coombs, 2015
    all rights reserved

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  3. Loved your rhythm and rhyme, Maria, and your time-lapse year, Kate—
    it’s amazing what constraints can lead to!

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