Happy April!
I don't know about you, but the time change bringing more sunlight to our later hours has me feeling so much better. Spring renews and refreshes!
It also brings about the month of April, (which happens to be poetry month) and with it: the challenge to write a poem a day, for 30 days. A poem a day for even a week can be hard, let alone a poem a day for a whole month! However, I have a few prompted challenges to give in order to hopefully help fuel inspiration.
The first challenge is an easily digestible daily challenge. Sometimes even getting back into a writing flow can be a struggle. For a simple daily challenge: One sentence a day. Just a couple of words that can be describing how the day went, how you're feeling, a funny line you heard, a random thought that came to you, or complete nonsense. One sentence a day, every day, for the month of April. Perhaps it will spark more words. Maybe your sentence a day looks more like a word a day. Choose your own adventure! And by the end, you will have 30 of something that could also turn into its own list of writing prompts later. Here is a simple lined sheet that you can print out if that's your jam:
The next offer I have is a daily Metaphor Dice roll on my IG story. I have these handy dandy dice that when rolled, create interesting and unique metaphors. Every morning, I will roll a set for a daily prompt. To follow, my IG handle is - @sassypantsmcfingerguns
Lastly, I have created a writing prompt challenge that goes by the days of the week. The following is a guide. For each day of the week, I have chosen a different poetry form. Let's get started!
Monday’s form is Haiku. Haiku is a form that consist of three lines of 17 syllables in total, in 5 syllables for the first line, 7 syllables for the second line, and 5 syllables for the third line pattern.
A caterpillar
Matsuo Bashō
A caterpillar, - 5
this deep in fall- - 7
still not a butterfly. - 5
Tuesday’s form is Limerick. Limerick is a form that consists of five lines in a single stanza with a rhyme scheme of AABBA. The first, second and fifth lines, with the same rhyme - A, tend to be a little longer than the third and fourth lines with the rhyming scheme B. Most limericks are intended to be humorous and silly.
There once was a man from Nantucket, - A
Who kept all his cash in a bucket. - A
But his daughter, named Nan, - B
Ran away with a man, - B
And as for the bucket, Nantucket. - A
Wednesday’s form is Eintou. Eintou is a septet - a stanza of seven lines. In these lines there is a pattern of syllables. It starts with two syllables in the first line, four syllables in the second, six syllables in the third, and eight syllables in the fourth line of the poem. From there the poem returns, line-by-line, with six syllables, then four, to a two-syllable conclusion.
The pearl - 2
holding wisdom - 4
spoken from the sweet tongues - 6
Wet with Hunger, Red with Power, - 8
of poets met in verse, - 6
and verse alone, - 4
is home. - 2
-Cosima Smith
Thursday’s form is Gradatio. Gradatio is a literary term in which the last word or phrase in a previous sentence is used to begin the next sentence. Creating a repetition to help drive the point of the piece home.
Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated.
-Martin Luther King, Jr
Friday’s form is Sonnet. Sonnet is a 14 lined poem with a couple options for rhyming scheme and syllable count. One rhyming pattern can be in an ABBA ABBA for the first 8 lines, followed by either a CDC CDC pattern or a CDE CDE for the last 6 lines. Another way the rhyming scheme can go is in a ABAB CDCD EFEF GG pattern. Another is in a ABAB BCBC CDCD EE pattern. Another rule that can be added to the Sonnet is a meter count in Iambic Pentameter. For the sake of getting words on the page, I leave this up to the writer’s choice.
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; - A
Coral is far more red than her lips' red; - B
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; - A
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. - B
I have seen roses damasked, red and white, - C
But no such roses see I in her cheeks; - D
And in some perfumes is there more delight - C
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. - D
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know - E
That music hath a far more pleasing sound; - F
I grant I never saw a goddess go; - E
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. - F
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare - G
As any she belied with false compare. - G
-Shakespeare
Saturday’s form is Acrostic. Acrostic is a form in which the first letter of each line spells out a word. When we were first introduced to this form, you may recall in elementary school, you would make an Acrostic poem with your name, using each letter to start each sentence. This can be expanded upon as Acrostic is a form that hides secret messages. You can write a paragraph in which the first letter to each word creates its own meaning, typically symbolized by capitalization.
Elizabeth it is in vain you say
“Love not” — thou sayest it in so sweet a way:
In vain those words from thee or L.E.L.
Zantippe’s talents had enforced so well:
Ah! if that language from thy heart arise,
Breath it less gently forth — and veil thine eyes.
Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried
To cure his love — was cured of all beside —
His follie — pride — and passion — for he died.
-Edgar Allan Poe
Sunday’s form is Villanelle. Villanelle is a form that comes with a few rules. It is a 19 lined poem that consists of five 3 lined stanzas (tercets), followed by a sixth stanza of 4 lines (quatrain). It has a more strict rhyming scheme of just two rhymes that repeat in a ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA pattern. It also has two refrains, lines that repeat throughout the poem. The first and third lines of the first stanza alternate as the last lines of the remaining 3 lined stanzas. In the last stanza, the 4 lined stanza, these two lines appear again as the final two lines of the poem.
Do not go gentle into that good night, - A
Old age should burn and rave at close of day; - B
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - A
Though wise men at their end know dark is right, - A
Because their words had forked no lightning they - B
Do not go gentle into that good night. - A
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright - A
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, - B
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - A
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, - A
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, - B
Do not go gentle into that good night. - A
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight - A
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, - B
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - A
And you, my father, there on the sad height, - A
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. - B
Do not go gentle into that good night. - A
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - A
-Dylan Thomas
I hope this gives you some motivation to start writing at your own comfort level! Remind yourself that poetry is a creative expression meant process and enrich YOU. There's no need to share if you don't feel comfortable, and writing even once this month would be a great accomplishment for someone who isn't already in a writing practice. But if you want to share, would like more insight, or want to continue on this journey, check out the monthly donation based Craft Coven Poetry Night run by Krystle Griffin.