Tag Archives: formal structure

#478: So I resolved in the new year to try . . .

So I resolved in the new year to trya meditation practice once againafter a two-year mindfulness dry spell.Not entirely mindlessness, but close. For whatever reason, I could not sitand my cushion languished without me.But during that whole episode, I knewsomething was wanting, something was amiss.It’s not enough to write a ten-syllable line; no amount ofContinue reading “#478: So I resolved in the new year to try . . .”

#474: It takes a fool to know a fool, they say . . .

In the spirit of April Fools day, here’s the first sonnet of the month. It’s kind of a political thing, which surprised me. I had the first line and had no idea where I would go with it. My standards for what constitutes a sonnet is simply 14 lines with a rough 10 syllable construction.Continue reading “#474: It takes a fool to know a fool, they say . . .”

#472: When I taught “The Red Wheelbarrow” . . .

Here we are on the last day of National Poetry Writing Month, or, in my neck of the woods, National Write A Sonnet Every Day Month. It has been a trip, to say the least, this project of committing oneself to a particular form over and over. I think I would recommend it. Outside ofContinue reading “#472: When I taught “The Red Wheelbarrow” . . .”

NaPoWriMo 2023: A Sonnet Festival

Don’t ask me why, not just yet anyway, but I am moved this year as I anticipate the first day of National Poetry Writing Month to veer away from my annual practice–not by skipping it, or by doing something different, like working on prose, for example, like some fiction writers do in the fourth monthContinue reading “NaPoWriMo 2023: A Sonnet Festival”

#406: A Glosa for April 3, 2022

My meditation practice lately has been replaced with Arooj Aftab, a Pakistani-American singer writing her songs often by setting the words of 13th century Persian poet, Rumi, to music. She sings in Urdu; I don’t understand a word of it, and yet, 40 minutes or so with her album Vulture Prince is as good asContinue reading “#406: A Glosa for April 3, 2022”

#381: Poem on April 7, 2021

 1/1/2/3/5/8. These are the syllable counts for a six line poem called a Fib, named after the first six numbers of the Fibonacci sequence. And I am writing one of these for today’s poem, a prompt courtesy of the Napowrimo website. Correction: I am writing two of those, one forwards, then one backwards, to makeContinue reading “#381: Poem on April 7, 2021”

#156: The Desire to Write a Terzanelle

The desire to write a terzanelle runs smack dab up against too much shit to do as well. I don’t want to feel incensed, about constantly fighting time, running smack dab up against the incessant daily grind and all of my complaining about constantly fighting time. The afternoon is waning and pretty soon it will be darkContinue reading “#156: The Desire to Write a Terzanelle”