Forms Unique to Writing.com

[Tinker]

Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry
Invented Forms

Writing.com is a site that took me years to master. It is all about writing, novels, poetry, short stories, whatever. Writers may post their work and blogs and it appears massive. I originally found it difficult to maneuver through the maze, I have since figured the site out. In order to take advantage of all of its features it costs money.  There is limited access for free.  However it is loaded with prompts, contests and challenges that can be fun and informative.  Skill ranges from beginner to professional writers. 

Unfortunately at this point in my research there isn't much left that I haven't already researched and posted. However there are some original invented forms at WCD and also forms used from obscure sites that have been reproduced  here.  Dave Schneider, the leader of one of the many forums available, Poet's Place Café, challenges poets to use a "tool of the trade" on Mondays and write a poem in the "Form of the Week" on Thursdays.  So here is the latest of my finds with a whole lot of assistance from Dave. 

The 160 is a writing exercise more than a poetic technique or form. I was excited to find a Dutch connection to poetic form and apparently this is an exercise used in Dutch poetry workshops. I don't know how helpful this would be in honing our skills as poets but it is something new. The exercise simply asks that you write a poem in 160 characters including space and punctuation. That means counting each letter of each word. Obviously it will be short.

Example by Bianca      Wings by Judi Van Gorder

The Argonelles is an invented stanzaic form that I have been unable to find the source.  There are 2 interpretations of the frame, one demonstrated at WCD by Neva aka Prosperous Snow as a simple syllabic rhymed quintain.  The other version which I believe is the older one is found at Rainbow Communications and it uses two refrains. 
The elements of the Argonelles as demonstrated at WCD are:

1. stanzaic, written in any number of quintains. (5 line stanzas)
2. syllabic, syllables per line are 2-6-8-8-6
3. rhymed, rhyme scheme xabba xcddc xeffe  x being unrhymed
   
   The Chase is On by Judi Van Gorder
   
   Fall TV by Judi Van Gorder

The elements of the Argonelles as demonstrated by Linda Vernall Smith at Rainbow Communications are:

1. stanzaic, written in any number of quintains.
2. syllabic, syllables per line are 2-6-8-8-6
3. rhymed,  rhyme scheme ABccB  ADeeD  AFggF etc
4. The first line of each stanza is a repeated refrain from L1 of the poem.  L5 repeats L2 of each stanza but is not carried over into the next stanza.
   
   Today's Molly Adventure by Judi Van Gorder

Garden Lace is an invented form created by Roseille at WDC in response to a challenge to create a poem with interlocking rhymed tercets. Roseille is fast becoming one of my new favorite poets because of her creativity and her flawless rhythm. The elements of Garden Lace are:

1. written in any number of tercets.
2. syllabic, L1 & L2 8 syllables each, L3 14 syllables. Optional:  L1 & L2 of each tercet is iambic tetrameter, L3 is iambic heptameter. 
3. rhymed, rhyme scheme, aba bcb cdc ded and so on.
   Winter Garden

Winter Garden

In winter darkness blooms of white
crocuss mock, in pure merriment,
the bleak and cold landscape. A pilot of light in the night.

With saffron stigma, testament
of her value beyond the sight
of beauty in blight, with grace she offers her sacrament. 
                             ~~Judi Van Gorder

Kwoa is a recently invented form by Max Kwoa that turns on only 2 rhymes.
The elements of the Kwoa are:

1. a 15 line poem made up of 6 couplets followed by a tercet.
2. syllabic, the first 4 couplets and the 6th couplet, L1 of each couplet is 10 syllables and L2 of each couplet is 6 syllables. The 5th couplet has a syllable count of 9-5. The tercet has a syllable count of 5-5-6.
3. composed with the 10 syllable lines are broken by caesura midway.
4. rhymed, rhyme scheme ab ab ab ab xx ab xab x is unrhymed

   x x x x x, x x x x a x x x x x b x x x x x, x x x x a                          x x x x x b x x x x x- x x x x a x x x x x b x x x x x, x x x x a x x x x x b x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x, x x x x a x x x x x b x x x x x x x x x a x x x x x b

   Let Love In When love is offered, regardless of how, embrace with gratitude, enjoy the glory, let it fill the now, do not let it elude. Savor the moment, the explosive POW! Don't live in solitude, even love's sharp claws, cautiously allow because selflessness should be the goal of every living being. Loving another is the ultimate gift. Pick up the plow and clear the tangled wood make room for giving yourself, disavow fear, be blessed and renewed.                          ~~Judi Van Gorder

   .

   LANoe is an invented form by bLisa Noe that has mono-rhymed tercets with an easy rhythm.
   
   The elements of the LANoe are:

   1. stanzaic, written in no less than 3 tercets and no more than 8 tercets.
   2. syllabic,  L1 and L2 are 8 syllables each.  L3 is 3 syllables.
   3. rhymed, rhyme scheme aaa bbb ccc ddd etc.
       

   Gone See the hand that’’s withered and worn,                                From a man who’s beaten and torn. He’s no more. Now He’s gone but love still remains, Everything in life has now changed. But life's strange. Heaven is where we shall meet, my Lord, I hunger for your precious word. Sweetest heard. You are my Savior, I am proud, You speak to me so clear and loud. in the crowd.                               ~~Lisa Noe

   Summer Travail On Sunday the summer wind wailed drawing fears from the COVID jailed options paled Above unseasonable clouds adorned in dark, ominous shrouds what will now Could there be more to spoil my day? The mouse Molly brought in to play, here to stay.                         ~~Judi Van Gorder

   Octet is an invented form introduced by Dr. Laura Andersson. It is simply a diminishing octave.  The elements of the Octet are:

   1. an octastich, a poem in 8 lines.
   2. syllabic, 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 syllables per line.
   3. unrhymed.
   4. variable and can be written as a mirror or can be reversed.
      
      Gunman Kills 11 by Judi Van Gorder
      Fire Season  by Judi Van Gorder

   The Onzain (French) or Onzijn (Dutch onze means eleven} is an invented form, the Dutch version of which is attributed to a Drs. P. The form apparently originated in France and this is all I could find about the French version of the form. The verse form is pretty simple, it is all about the number eleven. The elements of the Onzain or Onzijn are:

   1. a poem in eleven lines.
   2. syllabic, each line is eleven syllables.
   3. rhymed, the Dutch rhyme scheme is a-b-c-b-c-d-c-d-a-e-e, (I can only guess that the French rhyme scheme may be different since this scheme was specified as the Dutch version.)

   Punnett, an invented verse form created by Marc Ant in response to a challenge to create a new verse form based on your occupation. Being a biology teacher, Marc based the form on the ratios in a "punnet square". (Punnett squares are used in Biology to assess the ratio of possible genotypic outcomes when crossing traits among a species.) The elements of the Punnett are:

   1. a poem in 9 lines.
   2. unmetered, counts words per line 1-2-1-2-4-2-1-2-1
   3. unrhymed
   4. theme must be in the biological realm.
   5. composed with the first word being part of the last word.
   6. centered on the page.
      
      Example Poem    Udder Elixir by Judi Van Gorder

   Revanche (French - revenge) is an American, invented, stanzaic form created by David Hirt.  The defining feature of the Revanche is the alternating rhymeless quatrains with the rhymed couplets.   The elements of the Revanche are:

   1. stanzaic, written in any number of alternating quatrains and couplets.
   2. metric, iambic tetrameter. There is a variation which is written in 4 sets of alternating quatrains and couplets. The first set of quatrain and couplet are iambic tetrameter, the following 3 sets are written L1 thru L3 of each quatrain is tetrameter, L4 is iambic trimeter, the couplets are iambic tetrameter.
   3. rhymed, the quatrains are unrhymed and the couplets are rhymed. xxxx aa xxxx bb xxxx cc etc. x being unrhymed. (Note: the discription at Writing.com desribes the quatrains as "loosely Blank Verse" referring to the fact that the lines of the quatrain are unrhymed, this could be misleading. Lack of rhyme is only one feature of Blank Verse. Blank verse is always iambic pentatmeter.

   Rondel Grand An invented form by Victoria Sutton or Passionspromise at Writing.com. I'm unsure why this takes the name of Rondel since the stanza, rhyme, refrain and syllable patterns are not similar. (other than the first 4 lines are 8 syllables) It is still a fun form to give a try. The elements of the Rondel Grand are:

   1. stanzaic, written in minimum of 3 quintains.
   2. syllabic, L1-L4 8 syllables each, L5 is 6 syllables.
   3. rhymed, rhyme scheme ababR cdcdR,etc.
   4. written with L5 repeating as L5 in each subsequent stanza.

   Rondel Grand Modified is a modification of the above Rondel Grand, created by Twila Colville / tucknits at writing.com. It changes the Rondel Grand rhyme scheme from alternating to rhymed couplets and changes the the refrain from repeating the entire L5 to breaking L5 into two 3 syllable phrases and gives the poet the option of repeating only 1 phrase at either the beginning or end of the 6 syllable L5 in subsequent stanzas. The elements of the Rondel Grand Modified are:

   1. stanzaic, written in a minimum of 2 cinquains, preferably more.
   2. syllabic, L1-L4 are 8 syllables each, L5 is 6 syllables.
   3. rhymed, rhyme scheme aabbR, ccddR, etc.
   4. written with a refrain which includes the repetition of 3 consecutive syllables from L5 of the first stanza at either the beginning or end of L5 of subsequent stanzas.
      
       Joe's Words
      
      All his life my young brother wrote
      For love, work and family both;
      He would say “utter amusement,”
      But this prose needs no inducement
      From his pen, thoughts inspired.
      
      No words dared retire or impend;
      Old terms, new ideas he penned.
      Eccentric gems of dialect,
      His views seldom scribed direct;
      From his pen, prose tumbled.
      
      Three eulogies, oft he did quote
      "Four too many", sadly he wrote.
      I would agree; I heard him pray,
      "Goodbye's impossible to say;"
      From his pen, memories.
      
      Though afar his deep work I read,
      Never once did my lone voice plead;
      To praise his aggrieved wordsmith’s scree,
      His stories captivated me.
      From his pen, no debris.
      
      “We grow too old too soon and too
      late too smart”, sage old phrase rings true;
      Losing him reminds my heart of
      Its wisdom nous; lost sibling love
      From his pen, pained adieu.
                             ~~Twila Colville

   Ronka is an invented verse form shared by Dave Schneider @ WCD which he found at Wordpress.com  created by Ken Ronkowitz. The form is Ken’s combination of the haiku, and tanka with a little bit of himself thrown in. Basically it is a 5 line poem made up of 7 words (not syllables) each. He takes it a step closer to the haiku and infuses a touch of the season and ego-less-ness. The elements of the ronka are:

   1. a pentastich, a poem in 5 lines
   2. unmetered, each line is made up of 7 Words (not syllables)
   3. a season or a seasonal symbol is infused into the poem
   4. draws emotion from the image rather than the poet.
      
      Shutdown
      
      Federal parks closed, government workers go unpaid,
      this Christmas, groceries, dolls and toy trains
      will be sparse for four hundred thousand,
      held hostage to five billion dollar wall.
      What happened to promised, “Mexico will pay”?
                                       ~~ Judi Van Gorder

   Sidewalk Poem a la Gervic. Found at WDC, created by Gervic, this is a two-part poem featuring parallels and contrast. The elements of the Sidewalk Poem a la Gervic are:

   1. a two-part poem, each displaying a contrast or parallel of events, ideas, objects, feelings, emotions, etc.
   2. each of the two parts is made up of four closed tercets, each tercet is composed of a short main line followed by an indented couplet.
   3. each of the two parts end with a single-line refrain. L1 of each part is repeated as L7 in refrain.
   4. each tercet should interact with the other tercets but should also be able to be a stand alone poem.
   5. meter or syllabic patterns at the discretion of the poet.
   6. rhyme scheme, X1 aaxbb xcc xdd X1 or X2ab xab xcd xcd X2. x being unrhymed X being a refrain
   7. the title of the poem is a combination of the two refrains.
          The Sierras and the Pacific by Judi Van Gorder
   Part 1
   XXXX1
         xxxxxxxxxa
         xxxxxxxxxa or b
   xxxx
         xxxxxxxxxb or a
         xxxxxxxxxb
   xxxx
         xxxxxxxxxc
         xxxxxxxxxc or d
   xxxx
         xxxxxxxxxd or c
         xxxxxxxxxd
         XXXX1
   
   Part 2 repeats the above frame using parallels or contrasting events, ideas, objects, feeling, emotions, etc.

   Sidlak means "shine" in Cebuano, a language of Northern Mindanao, Philippine Islands.  It is a verse form that has appeared over the last 5 years in blogs at Word Press. It seems Shambhavi Bhardwaj first introduced it there. But because of the Filipino source of the name and he does not take credit for its creation, it's source is still a mystery to me.  Shambhavi's description of the form however, has been quoted exactly whenever the form appears online so far.  I break it down a little differently here.  I have searched the internet and the Philippine and Indian Poetry sections of the New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics to find some reference to the form without success. 
   
   Because of the above research and especially because the last line syllable count is left to the discretion of the poet in lieu of a "color". I am pretty sure this is a recently invented form.
   
   There is a question of whether the last line must be confined to a color only or the color can be the focus of a phrase. The oldest sidlaks I could find use the color in a phrase. However, the poems I've read limiting the last line to the color only were very effective. I think given the two options, whatever works best for your poem is the correct answer.

   The elements of the Sidlak are:

   1. a pentastich, a poem in 5 lines.
   2. syllabic, 3-5-7-9- L5 syllable count is at discretion of the poet.
   3. L5 presents a COLOR that portrays the whole poem or the feelings of the writer without syllable count restriction.  

   President George H.W. Bush    Nation's pride respected leader passes to the other side   he lived well, led with integrity   wrapped in red, white and blue                                                      ~~Judi Van Gorder

   Hollow Since you left clouds darken the sky, the old dog mopes on the porch, and waking without you, the days are GREY.                               ~~Judi Van Gorder

    

   The Skinny is a verse form originally found at Word Press created by African American poet, Truth Thomas in the Tony Medina Poetry Workshop at Howard University.  The intent of the form is to create "a vivid image with as few words as possible".  The elements of the Skinny are:

   1. a verse form in 11 lines.
   2. unmetered. The measure is the line and the word.
   3. L1 can be any length although shorter lines are preferable. L11 is a repeat of L1 although it can change  in word arrangement, in tense or variations of root words. 
   4. L2 thru L10 are single words.  L2, L6 and L10 are the same word.
      
      Poet's Magic
      
      A poem is just words in lines
      poetry
      is
      the 
      magic
      poetry
      touches
      the
      reader
      poetry
      is words in lines, just a poem.
                 ~~Judi Van Gorder

   The Solage is another one found by Dave.  Created by poet, teacher, Cameron Semmens and discovered at How to write your own sogage, these are fun to write and can be addicting.  The elements of the Solage are:

   1.  a tristich, a poem in 3 lines.
   2.  rhymed, L1 and L2 rhyme, L3 is unrhymed
   3.  composed with 2 short lines followed by a single word 3rd line.
   4.  L1 and L2 can be parallels with L3 related to both
   5.  L3 should be sort of like a punchline.
      
      It's so cold
      and I'm getting old.
      ~winter~
                        ~~jvg
      
      More:

   The TriVail was created by J.lynn Sheridan in response to a poetic form challenge as demonstrated on her blog Writing on the Sun.  She says it is loosely based on the monostich, which is simply a poem in a single line.  I believe the connection is in reference to each couplet should be complete and should be able to stand alone as a poem.  Maybe a better reference would be the ghazal.

   The elements of the TriVail are:

   1. stanzic, written in six couplets followed by a tercet. Each couplet should be complete, never enjambed to the next couplet.  Each couplet should be able to stand alone as a poem but relate in some way to the couplet before, similar to the ghazal.
   2. syllabic, 3-7 3-7 3-7 3-7 3-7 3-7 3-3-3, each couplet has lines of three and seven syllables, and all three lines of the tercet have three syllables each.
   3. rhymed,  the couplets can be either rhymed ab ab ab ab ab ab or aa bb cc dd ee ff, the tercet is unrhymed.
   4. composed with repeating one word from L1 somewhere in the subsequent couplets and again in the tercet.
   5. composed with a theme based on relationships of any kind
      
      The Tribe by Judi Van Gorder

The Ziggurat is an invented form from Massachusetts poet Paul Szlosek in honor of Poetry Month. It has 4 sequentially increasing stanzas with lines measured by words instead of syllable or meter. Originally found at The Playground. The elements of the Ziggurat are:

1. Stanzaic made up of four stanzas of 2 lines, 3 lines, 4 lines, and 5 lines.
2. Lines measured by the number of words Stanza 1 lines of 2 words each, Stanza 2 lines of 3 words each, Stanza 3 lines of 4 words each, and Stanza 4 lines of 5 words each.
3. Rhymed, each stanza is monorhyme, aa bbb cccc ddddd.
   
   Appetite

[Tinker]

Trivail  without the one word repetition. The  Tribe Only son, four grandkids create my sun. Babies done, sisters, three and brother, one. Family love, fears, laughter, always we.                                             Rebel teens support younger boy and tween. Have your back, should never attack the pack. Lots of fun gather, share, the day is won.     Fill my world, a joyful legacy.                 ~~jvg

The Skinny Poet's Magic A poem is just words in lines poetry is the  magic poetry touches the reader poetry is words in lines, just a poem.            ~~Judi Van Gorder

[Tinker]

The 160 Wings I scribble a word,    watch a bird     in flight on it's way,     whether jay,       eagle, raven or wren.  I will my pen                 soar with their grace,           embrace                                       the courage to fly,       no reason why.              ~~Judi Van Gorder  So much harder than it looks,                       an exercise in paring down.

Punnett   Udder Elixir cream silky, smooth sweet and tasty great addition to coffee skimmed from top of cow's milk           ~~jvg

[Tinker]

Argonelles Fall TV TV Fall season has arrived Cliffhangers are finally resolved New show doubts summarily solved                             The same old themes revived. Surely I will write a poem right after this drama is done I have to see who lost or won, networks pay to show them. Free me from this temporary addiction that pulls me away from everything to sit and stay in this cemetery.          ~~Judi Van Gorder

Octet Fire Season October winds fan fierce fire storm fueled by dry grass and plant life long summer set the stage flames force folks to flee blaze lights night sky choking smoke hot ash  Leave!                   ~~jvg

 

[Tinker]

Verse Form: Solage

#1

It's so cold
and I'm getting old.
~Winter

#2

You make me smile,
please stay awhile.
~Connection

#3

Challenges soar,
never a bore.
~PMO

#4

Love to hug
my Snugglebug.
~Molly

#5

This is fun,
feel I've won.
~Solage

#6

I keep going
ever knowing
~wordplay

#7

Gotta stop
word swap.
~addiction

#8

I'll be back,
take another whack.
~fun

#9

budding rose
running nose
~pink

#10

Another day,
a chance to pray
~ gift

[Tinker]

More Solage, see above:

Chill in the air
branches are bare
~ Fall~