DODOITSU

My clock ticks in the window.
Chilling rains make me move slow.
At the end of this wet day,
I'm three hours behind.

     I wanted to try another new form today.  I chose a dodoitsu.  A Japanese form developed toward the end of the Edo period, the dodoitsu is all about syllables and not about rhyming or meter.  The dodoitsu usually focuses on work or love and is supposed to have a funny twist at the end.  This one is about work and I hope you can see the slight humor at the end.
     The dodoitsu is a four line poem with 7 syllables in each of the first three lines and five syllables in the last line.  So all together there are 26 syllables in a dodoitsu.
Can you try writing a dodoitsu today?  Have fun counting syllables and thinking about funny things about love or work.

Silver bands upon her teeth.
She fell for my inner wealth.
To each other we were drawn,
as our braces caught.

I like trying new foods.  How else can I find out if I like it or not, unless I try it?

  

TRIVERSEN

Happy Poetry Friday

To celebrate National Poetry Month, I thought it might be fun to try some new forms of poetry.  The form explored today is the TRIVERSEN.  The Triversen, an English stanza form, originated with William Carlos Williams. Each stanza, consists of three lines which present a complete clause or thought. A sentence forms the stanza.  No syllable count or meter is required and ideally the poem has six stanzas.
  I found about this form first in my reference book, The Shapes of our Singing by Robin Skelton and then Robert Lee Brewer wrote about it here. And, my Dictionary of Poetic Terms by Jack Myers and Don C. Wukasch has more.  But, basically a Triversen is an American form made popular by William Carlos Williams.  It is:
1. made up of six sentences or stanzas
2. broken into three phrases for each stanza.

   I think that rather than iambics, Williams was arguing that this phrasing better represented American conversations.  Here is my attempt at a Triversen.

SPRING

In springtime
     why are there so many
          rainy showers?

I am stuck indoors
     for hours
          and hours.

When I am ready 
    for heat
         and blazing sun.

The clouds cry
     their tears
          on everyone.

Spring is supposed
    to be about new beginnings
         and baseballs' extra innings.

But I wonder like a carrot
     with roots underground
          can the best be seen.

Your poetry challenge for today is to try writing your own Triversen.  Remember, it usually doesn't rhyme. And, has a variable foot.  Just have fun playing with a new form.

It is always fun to try on new shoes to see if it is a good fit. 
 
     My schedule shows that Laura Purdie Salas is hosting this Friday's Poetry Roundup on her blog Writing the World for Kids.  You can go here, to her blog to find more poetry posts.  Thank you Laura for hosting us this week.