Forms Unique to Poetic Bloomings

[Tinker]

Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry
Invented Forms

Poetic Bloomings, this poetic community includes a weekly blog "Inform Poets" where they challenge members to write in a chosen verse form.  Like many of these communities across the internet, members create new invented forms.  Here are a few I have not run across elsewhere.

Boketto is either a genre or an invented verse form originating from the meaning of the Japanese word "boketto" which doesn't directly translate to English. Boketto means something like allowing your mind to go blank and you become one with the universe. The ego disappears and you are pinprick of the universe, you are one with the universe, now. No past, no future but in this very moment, very zen. This is much like the concept of the haiku. You could say Boketto is a genre that embodies "the act of gazing into the universe without thinking". 
I.  The boketto as genre leaves the frame of the poem to the discretion of the poet. 

No Beginning, No End

Water pours 
        from the heavens
            without beginning or end.
Splashed down
                          to the earth
and bounced back up 
            to greet
the continuance of the fall.
It streaks 
            and shimmers in the air.
Puddles form 
            and small rivers splay 
                           across unfettered space.
Water soaks my feet and hair,
            strikes my face
                           and blurs my vision.
Now is the rain.
            ~~ Judi Van Gorder 4-6-18

II.  Boketto as verse form:  Sara Mc Nulty took the concept and created a verse form. It appears to be a combination of a tanka and a haiku minus one syllable and with the syllable count switched around. The subject can be a personal experience or an observation.
The elements of the verse form  boketto are:

1. stanzaic, any number of octaves made up of a quintain and a tercet.
2. syllabic, 47 syllables, the quintain is 30 syllables 7-7-7-4-5, the tercet is 17 syllables, 7-7-3.
3. The tercet becomes a refrain if more than one octave  is written.
4. like the haiku, the boketto captures a moment in time.
   
   Midnight Rain
   
   Midnight's uneven racquet,
   kettle drums tap out the beat
   Words keep time with the rhythm,
   unrelenting,
   slumber ending rain.
   
   Thoughts slide into puddles
   to discover in the dawn,
   write it now.
               ~~Judi Van Gorder 4-6-18

Genesis is verse form invented by Walt Wojtanik and named for the musical group. The rhyme is based on ABACAB the name of one of Genesis' hits.  The elements of the Genesis are:

1. a poem in 18 lines made up of 3 sixains. 
2. meter at the discretion of the poet.
3. rhymed, rhyme scheme abacab abacab abacab. 

The Hadron is an invented form by Walt Wojtanik named for the joining of protons and neutrons which apparently is at the heart of an atom, if I understand that right. Wojtanik compares words with a quark, "an elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of all matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons which join to form hadrons, the heart of atomic nuclei."  The joining of words are the basis of "elementary poetry". Brevity is the key to this form. The poem should demonstrate "two random glimpses of complimentary thoughts" like the proton and the neutron. Basically the poem is written in 2 halves. The first 3 lines set one image and the next are an entirely different image that parallels or compliments the first half of the poem. The elements of the Hadron are: 

1. an untitled poem.
2. a hexastich, a poem in 6 lines.
3. composed using a total of 12 words.
   L1  two words to set the subject.
   L2  three words that relate directly to subject
   L3  two words completing, describing or expanding the thought of L2
4. at L4  pivot to express a new thought that parallels or relates to the first 3 lines in an abstract way.
   L4  two descriptive rhyming words
   L5  one word to set up the action of the last line.
   L6  two words
   
    Blue skyscape
   streaked by white
   airplane exhaust.
   Wayfarer, wanderer,
   dreamer.
   Take me!
                ~~jvg

Poesia di Tema (Italian for themed poetry) is an invented form created by Marie Elena Good with a loose frame that allows a lot of discretion on the poet's part.   The elements of the Poesia de Tema are: 

1. titled.   
2. composed in any number of lines.  
3. syllabic, all lines including the title and the final theme line are 12 syllables.
4. rhyme at the discretion of the poet.
5. framed with a space between the body of the poem and the last line which carries the theme.
6. written with a surprise or lesson in the theme. 

PUN-KU is an invented form by Salvatore Buttaci in his blog SAL'S PLACE.  It is similar to the haiku but with stricter requirements, no wiggle room. The elements of the PUN-KU are:

1. titled, using only 1 or 2 words.
2. a poem written in 4 lines, no exceptions.
3. syllabic, 17 syllables total, no more no less. The syllabic line pattern must be exactly as indicated below:
   L1  4 syllables
   L2  5 syllables
   L3  4 syllables
   L4  4 syllables
4. rhymed, rhyme scheme xaxa. x being unrhymed.
5. composed employing one or more puns.
6. content examines human nature from a light or humorous perspective.

Questionku is an invented form by Richard Lamoureux apparently from poetrysoup.com but the link was broken and I couldn't find the original post.  Obviously this form is meant to ask a question in haiku fashion.  The elements of the Questionku are:

1. unspecified titled or untitled. I found 1 poem with and 1 without. 
2. a tristich, a poem in 3 lines.
3. syllabic, 15 syllables total, 4-5-6 syllables per line.
4. written with the last line asking a question.

The Ryūka is a Japanese form I have not previously come across.  It is apparently a form with 4 units that are "often  treated as separate stand alone lines when romanized or translated" per Sara McNulty at poeticbloomings.com.  The elements of the Ryūka are:

1. untitled.
2. a poem in 4 lines.
3. syllabic, 8-8-8-6 syllables per line, sometimes the syllable per line are  7-5-8-6 or 5-5-8-6
4. written in variation  that I don't understand of "longer Ryūka with 8-8-8-8-8-8-8…-6".

Tri-Coupled Sestet is an invented form by Mike Grove.  The frame employs internal and end rhyme as well as a variable syllabic pattern.  The elements of the Tri-Coupled Sestet are:

1. stanzaic, written in any number of sestets made up of 2 tercets. (Technically, a 6 line poem is a hexastich, 6 line stanza written with other 6 line stanzas are sixains to distinguish them from the 6 line stanza that is written with different lined stanzas such as in the octave - sestet of the sonnet.  Over time the lines have become blurred and sestet is often used synonymously with all of the above. )
2. syllabic, L1-L2 and L4-L5 are 6 to 9 syllables each. L3 and L6 are 9 to 12 syllables each.
3. rhymed, L1-L2 and L4-L5 have internal and end rhyme, L3 and L6 are end rhymed.

   x x a x x b                or            x x a x x b x x x x x x x x c x x a x x b x x a x x b x x x x x x x x c

   x x a x x b x x a x x b x x x x x x x x c x x d x x e x x d x x e x x x x x x x x c

 Trimeric is an invented form created by Dr. Charles A. Stone. Basically it is a short Trenta Sei without metric or rhyme guidance.  The elements of the Trimeric are:

1. a poem in 13 lines, made up of a quatrain followed by 3 tercets.
2. meter at the discretion of the poet.
3. rhyme at the discretion of the poet.
4. composed with a tumbling refrain, each line (with the exception of L1) of the first stanza taking its turn as the first line of the following respective stanzas.  L2 of S1 is L1 of S2. L3 of S1 is L1 of S3 and finally L4 of S1 is L1 of S4.
   
   Customer Service
   
   Good home service is rare these days.
   First, traverse the automated phone maze
   Second, wait for future date and window of time.
   Third, endure the prep and skill level of "tech".
   
   First, traverse the automated phone maze,
   Press one for English, dos por Espanol, sān gè wéi zhōng wén . . . .
   Press one for sales, two to pay, three for account info, four for . . . .
   
   Second, wait for date and window of time,
   first appointment available is not for 3 weeks,
   8 AM to 1 PM,  expect a call at 12:40, running late.
   
   Third, endure the prep and skill level of "tech",
   "I have to call a senior tech to walk me through",
   "it seems I don't have the part I need, reschedule".      
                                   ~~~Judi Van Gorder

[Tinker]

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