Akshar-Mala is an Indian poetic form in which the initial letters of each line are in alphabetical order. There are no other requirements for the form.
I found this form in The Dictionary of Indian Literature, One, Beginnnings-1850. I haven't been able to find any other descriptions of it, or any another Indian form that resembles it closely.
A while back we wrote in the form of iroha mojigusari, where the first letter of the alphabet starts off the first line and the second letter of the alphabet concludes it. The third letter starts the second line and the fourth letter finishes it. This continues until all the letters of the alphabet have been used in order.
Since there are no other guidelines here than order, I don't see why you can't begin with any letter of your choosing and make the poem as long as you like.
So, there's your challenge for the week. I hope you'll join me in writing an akshar-mala. Please share a link to your poem or the poem itself in the comments.
WHIRLING DERVISH
ReplyDeleteAll I wanted
Back in the day was for
Cecilia not to get knocked
Down too hard by life
Every time she
Flung herself with
Gusto into adventures, making
Hairpin turns
In
Just about every
Kind of activity she tried.
Lunging down mountain slops;
Narrowly escaping sharks
Or diving down the ocean floor then
Parasailing the high seas. My heart
Quickened with every letter I
Received from her. At
Some point I
Tried to
Understand her
Visions of
wanderlust then realized she was
Xeroxing her granddad’s life, who she
Yearned to meet but never did, Cecilia was
Zipping by life to fill the void of a loved one’s passing.
(c) Charles Waters 2016 all rights reserved.
Spot on, Charles.
DeleteThanks, Judith. :-)
DeleteAdvice to a young woman with a freshly broken heart
ReplyDeleteAccompany sorrow only long enough to
break that hateful habit.
Clear your mind.
Date it on your calendar to
escape the misery that has been
forced upon you.
Greet the morning as if it
holds a place
in line for you,
just as that smiling stranger did befpre
language class that day.
Meet it on your terms. You
need to set the boundaries because
opportunity is knock-knock-knocking at your door.
Power up your mind and
quell those racing thoughts that say it’s time to
run away and hide.
Swagger may be the very thing you need. And
time - without the hands to paint away the day, of course.
Until your
vision clears and once again you recognize the
winsome woman smiling in the mirror, having
x’d off all her days of mourning and is ready for a great big
YES! Again. Sha…..
ZAM!
©2016 Judith Robinson all rights reserved.
An Alphabet of Pain, of Joy
ReplyDeleteActually, life
balances between the two,
cantilevered, caught in mesh.
Down can sometimes be up.
Equal partners in the dance.
Follow or lead,
going or coming,
half is attitude, the rest
is luck
Just wait a minute,
kiss and make up,and
Life will smile.
Miss the moment and
nothing will fill the void.
Or reach out to touch,
post a kind letter,
query an editor,
resist the cutting comment,
step in-between anger and defeat.
That will swing the balance.
Unless you take the first step,you are life's
victim.
Wishing without action
eXorcises no ghosts.
YOU are in charge here.
Zoom ahead, not behind.
©2016 JaneYolen all rights reserved
Wow, you guys are good!
ReplyDeleteApril Night
April is a good way to
begin. I
can’t see starting with
December.
Everything is
far away this morning.
Good and bad,
how do
I
judge? How does anyone
know?
Last night was
muddy.
Now
only
pages and pages of
quiet. As if
rare
songs had
tumbled apart,
unraveled and
vanished.
Why look for
xylophones and flutes?
You are gone. So is my
zeal, my zest, my everything.
—Kate Coombs, 2016
all rights reserved
How is this form, if at all, different from an abecedarian?
ReplyDeleteI borrowed the opening word from Jane Yolen's, and wrote this. My first time sharing here, be gentle. :)
Actually, my voice
believes in itself
chanting to my heart
dissonance
effectively
forming a shield.
Gladly, I
harmonize.
I don't need to be louder.
Just
knowing my voice holds
lovely
melody,
no one can teach this
obbligato or
prepare
quiet
rhythms or
scales
to climb.
Uncertainty plagues
vanity
while secretly
x-ing out
your
zeal.
Hi Margaret,
DeleteThanks for stopping in! As far as I can tell from my research, an abcedarian required that you begin with the first letter of the alphabet and follow with each successive letter until the final letter is reached, so it must have 26 lines from A-Z. An akshar-mala does not require an A-Z treatment, only that lines begin with successive letters of the alphabet. So, an akshar-mala could begin with F and end with L.