Tag: Creative Writing

Staying

On By Adam AstraIn Poetry, Poetry Challenge, writingLeave a comment

~Week 42: The English Madrigal~

Staying

For now, we are content to stay inside.
The troubles of the world will wax and wane,
But as each season ends, our love remains.

Sometimes the storms of early May will hide
the sun and send a sudden rush of rain.
For now, we are content to stay inside.
The troubles of the world will wax and wane.

Although we’ve had to set some plans aside,
The garden will be waiting and will gain
As all of life will strengthen by our pains.
For now, we are content to stay inside.
The troubles of the world will wax and wane,
But as each season ends, our love remains.

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Click Here to learn more about the Fifty-Two Form Poetry Challenge.

Click Here to learn more about the English Madrigal form.

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— A sample of what you’ll find at my new blog, Astra Poetica —

~ Featuring a new form every week! ~

— Creative works are owned by the author and subject to copyright laws —

The Haiku Sonnet

On By Adam AstraIn Poetry, Poetry Challenge, writingLeave a comment

Among Cottonwoods

The autumn wind blows–
the storms of summer did not
drown the cottonwood.

From the hollow trunk,
monarchs fly away from death
and the coming frost.

They will return when
the soft white snowdrifts of seeds
burst forth in April.

The artist seated
at the roots will have to wait
to carve the soft wood.

Among cottonwoods,
the soul climbs and reaches out.

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~A sample of what you’ll find at my new blog, Astra Poetica~

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Click Here to learn more about the Fifty-Two Form Poetry Challenge.

Click Here to learn more about The Haiku Sonnet.

**COME BACK NEXT WEEK TO SEE THE NEXT FORM: ……!**

–Creative works are owned by the author and subject to copyright laws—

The Lune

On By Adam AstraIn Poetry, Poetry Challenge, writingLeave a comment
Photo Caption: The Lune (French for moon) is also known as the American Haiku, or Kelly Lune, after it’s creator Robert Kelly.

Three Original Lunes

the woods by the creek

the woods by the creek
all our best
silences were there


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she watches, wonders

she watches, wonders
in silence
the child in the leaves

who will comfort her
as she cries
as her forests burn

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from ancient darkness

from ancient darkness
sudden light
galaxies of soul

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~A sample of what you’ll find at my new blog, Astra Poetica~

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Click Here to learn more about the Fifty-Two Form Poetry Challenge.

Click Here to learn more about The Lune.

**COME BACK NEXT WEEK TO SEE THE NEXT FORM: THE HAIKU SONNET!**

–Creative works are owned by the author and subject to copyright laws—

The Bop

On By Adam AstraIn Poetry, Poetry ChallengeLeave a comment
Caption: Afaa Michael Weaver–acclaimed poet, short-story writer, editor, and inventor of The Bop.

We were born between rivers [an original bop]

We were born between rivers in the green
heart of the fertile valley. Our skin grew rich
with sun and deep black soil. We saw a light
and recognized a soul. Our dark eyes grew
wide and pulsed with power. Our hands
grew strong and eager and began to drum.

I do not know what it is—but I know it is in me.

In the chant we found a human voice; we cried
and sang. We danced and the rhythm overtook
our feet. Our feet that could not stop began
to wander. In our wandering we found a world
unconquered and in our new restlessness set
to test our will against it. We marched from
war to war–war within and war without–
and we forgot the soul, the voice, the dance.

I do not know what it is—but I know it is in me.

When we remember our soul like water
flowing, our eyes like oceans swimming
in starlight, our hands like branches reaching,
our feet like roots plunging, seeking a center,
We will then remember the strength of stillness.
We will then remember the power of peace.

I do not know what it is—but I know it is in me.

A note on my original bop

My refrain is taken from the following quote:
“There is that in me—I do not know what it is—but I know it is in me.”
— Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Part 50

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~A sample of what you’ll find at my new blog, Astra Poetica~

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Click Here to learn more about the Fifty-Two Form Poetry Challenge.

Click Here to learn more about The Bop.

**COME BACK NEXT WEEK TO SEE THE NEXT FORM: THE LUNE!**

–Creative works are owned by the author and subject to copyright laws—

The Triolet

On By Adam AstraIn Poetry, Poetry ChallengeLeave a comment

~A sample of what you’ll find at my new blog, Astra Poetica~
(see below for details)

Let’s move this town to higher ground [a modern triolet]*

Let’s move this town to higher ground      
We know these plains will flood again       
We are not bound to stay and drown        
Let’s move this town to higher ground     
A home more sound may yet be found      
These window panes will fill with rain        
Let’s move this town to higher ground      
We know these plains will flood again       

*A Note on My Original Triolet

The internal rhyme located on the second stress of each line is not a formal requirement, but a creative choice by the author. I began the poem with the first line, where the internal rhyme felt natural enough, and decided to challenge myself to see if I could carry the pattern through to the end.

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Click Here to learn more about the Fifty-Two Form Poetry Challenge.

Click Here to learn more about The Triolet.

**COME BACK FRIDAY TO SEE THE NEXT WEEK’S FORM: THE KYRIELLE!**

–Creative works are owned by the author and subject to copyright laws—

The American Cinquain

On By Adam AstraIn Poetry, Poetry ChallengeLeave a comment

~A sample of what you’ll find at my new blog, Astra Poetica~
(see below for details)

“Disturbed Pond”by Clint_Budd

Swimming lessons [an original American cinquain]

For her
dark eyes are pools
for my fool eyes to swim
and all at once I feel I’m made
of waves

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Click Here to learn more about the Fifty-Two Form Poetry Challenge.

Click Here to learn more about The American Cinquain.

**COME BACK TOMORROW TO SEE THE NEXT WEEK’S FORM: THE BLACKOUT POEM!**

–Creative works are owned by the author and subject to copyright laws—

The Horatian Ode

On By Adam AstraIn Poetry, Poetry ChallengeLeave a comment

~A sample of what you’ll find at my new blog, Astra Poetica~
(see below for details)

A Horatian Ode to the World Goddess

The Goddess of the World, I sing–
Her many forms and faces bring
The light of fertile life,
The fear of judgement’s knife.

Like Draupadi of Indian fame,
Born of the sacrificial flame–
Where she perceives a wall,
Illusion’s palace falls.

Or Anath, golden Canaanite,
Her retribution fierce and right,
She’ll cut you with a word,
Then feed you to the birds.

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Click Here to learn more about the Fifty-Two Form Poetry Challenge.

Click Here to learn more about The Horatian Ode.

**COME BACK TOMORROW TO SEE THE NEXT WEEK’S FORM: AMERICAN CINQUAIN!**

–Creative works are owned by the author and subject to copyright laws—

The Cywydd Llosgyrnog

On By Adam AstraIn Poetry, Poetry ChallengeLeave a comment

~A sample of what you’ll find at my new blog, Astra Poetica~
(see below for details)

When I stop to watch [an original cywydd llosgyrnog]

When I stop to watch the deep blue
Evening descend and the last few
Fading hues of daylight’s dream
Diffuse into the sloping plains
A peace upon my mind again
Falls like rain into a stream

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Click Here to learn more about the Fifty-Two Form Poetry Challenge.

Click Here to learn more about The cywydd Llosgyrnog .

**COME BACK TOMORROW TO SEE THE NEXT WEEK’S FORM: THE HORATIAN ODE!**

–Creative works are owned by the author and subject to copyright laws—

The Minute Poem

On By Adam AstraIn Poetry, Poetry ChallengeLeave a comment

~A sample of what you’ll find at my new blog, Astra Poetica~
(see below for details)

Photo Caption: Lucky for us, the Minute Poem counts syllables, not seconds.

I often sleep through summer’s storm [an original minute poem]

I often sleep through summer’s storm 
when nights are warm 
and thick with dreams
or so it seems

the quilt pulled high covers my eyes 
as lightning flies
like moon in shroud 
of creeping cloud

I wake to find the darkened road
the flowers bowed
the sagging sky
the river high

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Click Here to learn more about the Fifty-Two Form Poetry Challenge.

Click Here to learn more about The Minute Poem.

**COME BACK TOMORROW TO SEE THE NEXT WEEK’S FORM: THE CYWYDD LLOSGYRNOG!**

–Creative works are owned by the author and subject to copyright laws—

Diminishing/Culminating Verse

On By Adam AstraIn Poetry, Poetry ChallengeLeave a comment

~A sample of what you’ll find at my new blog, Astra Poetica~
(see below for details)

Two Original Diminishing Verse Poems

The Riots of Spring

As the thunder churns, as the lightning cleaves,
The nestlings cower in the quaking leaves; 
The spider’s web quivers beneath the eaves. 

But soon the red fox will doze in the clover;
The monarch will settle on its yellow-petaled lover;
The riots of spring will be over.

Daily News

He dreads
The daily news–he only reads
The ads.

Bonus Challenge! 
Diminishing Verse…in Reverse

If you add one or more letters to the beginning of the end word of each previous line (instead of subtracting), you get Diminishing Verse’s opposite: the Culminating Verse poem!

An Original Culminating Verse Poem

Tart

The art
In eating a tart
Is knowing when to start.

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Click here to learn more about the Fifty-Two Form Poetry Challenge.

Click Here to learn more about the Diminishing Verse form.

**COME BACK TOMORROW TO SEE THE NEXT WEEK’S FORM: THE MAGIC 9!**

–Creative works are owned by the author and subject to copyright laws—