The defining characteristics of a traditional ghazal are its rhyme and refrain. The refrain can be a word or phrase. … Every couplet ends with the rhyme and refrain. In the first couplet only, both lines end in the rhyme and refrain. Every line of the poem shares the same meter or syllable count.. My…
F: Flarf
Originally a prank on the scam contest sponsored by the organization Poetry.com, the experimental poetry movement flarf has slowly assumed a serious position as a new kind of Internet-based poetic practice. Known for its reliance on Google as a means of generating odd juxtapositions, surfaces, and grammatical inaccuracies, flarf also celebrates deliberately bad or “incorrect”…
E: Epistle
An Epistle is a letter in verse, usually addressed to a person close to the writer. Its themes may be moral and philosophical, or intimate and sentimental. Dear Baba, Since you left us 26 years ago (and 26 years is a lifetime you know) – time passed, the world has not ended life stopped not,…
D: Dirge
A Dirge is a brief hymn or song of lamentation and grief; it was typically composed to be performed at a funeral. In lyric poetry, a dirge tends to be shorter and less meditative than an elegy. Dirge to humanity He raped a three year old. Yes, in a stationary bus. While her five year…
C: Cinquain
Cinquain is a short, usually unrhymed poem consisting of twenty-two syllables 2, 4, 6, 8 and 2 in five lines. Bitter-sweet Are memories I gather, my soul feeds Drumming at walls I have built, now Weakened.
B: The Brevette
The Brevette, created by Emily Romano consists of a subject (noun), verb, and object (noun), in this exact order. The verb should show an ongoing action. This is done by spacing out the letters in the verb. There are only three words in the poem, giving it the title Brevette. For more on this, see…
A: Apostrophe
An Apostrophe: An address to a dead or absent person, or personification as if he or she were present. HOLD Hold still, ease the frown let me see you one last time as you turn to go our eyes meeting over words unsaid between us. Hold softly to my image as I treasure your laughter…
AtoZ theme reveal.
Okay, it’s that time of year. Time for the AtoZ blogging, for long-time followers, the April thingie I do. If you do not like poetry, now is the time to de-link/unfollow me. Yes, do something about it (fair warning) because this year, I am exploring poetry forms. It’s new to me too. Yes, I am…
For my daughters.
I give you this cloak in shades of grey that sat on me when I was young. Yes, it’s rough, hand-woven and stained, a hand-me-down from my mother who herself wore it lightly slung. My father frowned when he saw me in that cloak as he looked away, his eyes held a tear but no…
Muri Ghonto
Sometimes your words cleave into me Like that bonti that ploughs the fish The head, cut apart through the middle Dead pan eye looking at me Accusingly. I, yes, I am the reason That katla was dragged from the water Out of the languid depths of the pond That was its home. I thought I would…
The Playlist
The nib sticks to paper the ink has dried my words shred the page and shrivel inside I have my music though, who needs to write? I have those songs of yester-years carefully compiled. The playlist is a time-machine, it took me there today to that home of long ago, to time that played on…
From a waiting room.
Lady in the waiting room Vermillion smeared on fore head. Sandal paste on your neck Hands buried in beads Fumbling fingers moving The mouth chanting a prayer As your mother’s tired eyes wait Her hand clings to her colostomy bag Patiently, just as the doctor said. I see you have come from the temple His…
