Z is for Zuchini and ZaniLa Rhyme

I'm Going to Miss This

Z???
What????
It's the last day???
Tomorrow is M-A-Y?????
Where has the time gone?
I'm going to miss this.
Now I'll have to do dishes
and laundry
and comb my hair...
sigh.
It just won't be
the same
Without a form
to tame.
I'll probably get over it.


This month I have been participating in the A to Z Challenge and incorporating National Poetry Month
by writing a poem each day.
There has also been a poem growing one poet at a time with the Progressive Poem - check out the ending today at Dori Reads.

Today's letter for the AtoZ is Z.  I have spent the past year-ish taking pictures of Maine vanity plates on cars in parking lots in Maine.  This year each poem form also begins with the same letter.  I found 2 Maine vanity plates for today, and chose a ZaniLa Rhyme for ZUCHINI.

The ZaniLa Rhyme, a form created by Laura Lamarca. The rhyme scheme is abcb, with a syllable count 

of 9/7/9/9. Line 3 contains an internal rhyme and is repeated in each odd numbered stanza. 

Even stanzas contain the same line but reversed phrases of internal rhyme. 

It has a minimum of 3 stanzas. 

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Zucchini 

O, vegetable beneath verdant leaves,
Zucchini so prolific
Amazingly you grow, where I sow -
I guess that’s not so scientific...

Impersonator of cucumber
With very subtle flavor
Where I sow, amazingly you grow,
No green thumb of mine in your favor!

You hide in plain sight in the garden
A bit of a green recluse!
Amazingly you grow, where I sow -
Under cover your number’s profuse.

You start out so smallish and cute
Poof!  Next day you’re gigantic!
Where I sow, amazingly you grow,
By August I’m zucchini frantic!

Next spring I’ll plant tomatoes and corn
No magical zucchini
Amazingly you grow where I sow;
You’re an amazing green Houdini!

by Donna JT Smith © 2012

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

This one ALMOST made the cut... But zucchini was easier for this format!  But back in 2012 I did write a poem for Z that fits it.  Here is an oldy for the last day of the AtoZ:

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Zip zap zing
Who says z's are not the thing
To make a poem sing?
Zombie, zilch, zits
These are just the pits,
But zooming, zesty, zealous
make plainer words
Quite jealous.
And then you always have
The z that's in the middle
Wizard, lizard, drizzle.
Pizza, razzed and fizzle
And if that's not enough, friend
You have them at the end then
Like whiz and fizz and jazz
Which give this poetic spaz
 Some dazzling razzmatazz! 

 © 2012, Donna JT Smith

It has been a fun month of reading and writing!  Thanks to everyone who has visited my blog and special thanks to those who have taken the time to comment.  I do appreciate it!  And immense thanks to those who now follow me.  I hope we can continue to be blogger buddies!  Best of luck in your writing this year!

See you next year Alphabet! 

Y is for YA YA and a Yadu

I am participating in the A to Z Challenge this month, and today's letter is V.
Click here for the list of blogs participating.

I have spent the past year-ish taking pictures of Maine vanity plates when I encountered them - most all in shopping center parking lots.

I am writing a poem for each one, and this year the poem form begins with the same letter.  I found 4 Maine vanity plates for today that begin with Y, and I chose to write a Yadu or Yatu.

The yadu (also spelled ya-du and yatu) is a Burmese form of poetry which consists of up to three stanzas of five lines. The first four lines of a stanza have four syllables each, but the fifth line can have 5, 7, 9 , or 11 syllables. A yadu should contain references to the seasons.
It has a climbing rhyme. The rhyme is on the fourth, third, and second syllables of both the first three lines and the last three lines.

---A 

--A-

-A-B 

--B-

-B---

This was not an easy pattern to follow.  I had to keep the format right in front of me for the whole time.  Now it seems not as difficult to remember, but it is hard to keep the flow with this pattern.
It IS done, though!  Yah, yah - ya ya - yeah, yeah, yay!

Almost

Almost summah!
Oh, yah, yah, yay!
Not fah, ya know
Till this snowin’
Stops blowin’ and tulips pop!

Then comes the sneeze
Caused by breeze through
The trees and grass;
Pollens pass by
En masse to nasal passage.

Almost summah!
Oh, yah, yah, yay!
Not fah, ya know
To nose blowin’
eyes flowin’ and tissues pop!

by Donna JT Smith, ©2018

These were all fun plates!

I can't believe tomorrow is Z - Z last day of A to Z!

X is for XLCIOR

It is Poetry Friday, so you can read lots and lots of poems today.  Stop by to check out the links left with our hostess today, Irene Latham, at Live Your Poem.

The Progressive Poem has been "growing and growing", too!  It is nearing its conclusion...

Buffy Silverman has the next line at - Buffy's Blog!  Go check it out!

I am participating in the A to Z Challenge this month, and today's letter is X.

Click here for the list of blogs participating.

 

I have spent the past year-ish taking pictures of Maine vanity plates when I encountered them - most all in shopping center parking lots.  I am writing a poem for each one, and this year the poem form begins with the same letter.  I found 1 Maine vanity plate for today, and chose a HexSonnetta - the closest I could come to X for a poem format.

A HexSonnetta has two six-line stanzas and a finishing rhyming couplet.  Its rhyme scheme is
of iambic trimeter per line.  The first stanza is the theme of the poem, with the second stanza changes the tone of the poem, to introduce a new aspect or give added details. The final couplet can be either a summary or the resolution to a problem presented. It should tie together the whole, maybe appear as a “twist” at the end.

I was so excited to find this butterfly to go with my plate!
Callicore excelsior, the superb numberwing or excelsior eighty-eight, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia.^[2]
Adults are black on the upper surface of the wings, with a metallic deep blue sheen on the hindwings, and a broad arc of orange or red on the forewings.

Excelsior - topside

Excelsior - underneath

Excelsior

It flutter-floats forward

on any wispy breeze

any way it pleases

zigging-zagging onward

through the summer upward

clear to the tops of trees

Then ignoring flower

becoming intrusive

seeks salts so elusive

taste for salt or sour
to replenish power -
finds humans condusive.

It's here for a season -
And add to the reason.

by Donna JT Smith, ©2018

*I totally forgot the last line on this stanza.  I had to redo that stanza, even though I liked it as was!  I found more info that I want to incorporate.

W is for Wolf and Wedge Verse

I am participating in the A to Z Challenge this month, and today's letter is T.

Click here for the list of blogs participating.

I wrote a Wedge verse also known as a Rhopalic.  More about this form here
Rhopalic - Each succeeding unit is longer than the preceding one. Applied to a line, it means that each successive word is a syllable longer that its predecessor. Applied to a stanza, each successive line is longer by either a syllable or a metrical foot.



This didn't make a lot of sense to me, so I have to go looking for a sample of it.  Otherwise it looks a lot like and Etheree....

Here's one where each word is one syllable longer:

Wolf
howling,
echoing,
penetrating,
reverberating,
Indefatigable,
individualistic
territorialization

by Donna JT Smith, ©2018

And then I did this one where each line is a syllable longer.  I hope this is right.  I like this second one...almost an etheree - just not 10 lines.

Wolf’s
Echoes
Refill night’s
Sail with wild wails
His song washing stars
Silver moon shimmers cold
Penetrating night’s presence
Wolf’s howls a turmoil under gray

By Donna JT Smith, ©2018

Oh, wait, I get the first one now...But wait... How about this format?  I am naming this one

Wolves howling nocturnal emanations
calling companions reunited
surreal circumstances
congregating

V is for VLCRPTR and a Villanelle

I am participating in the A to Z Challenge this month, and today's letter is V.
Click here for the list of blogs participating.

I have spent the past year-ish taking pictures of Maine vanity plates when I encountered them - most all in shopping center parking lots.

I am writing a poem for each one, and this year the poem form begins with the same letter.  I found 3 Maine vanity plates for today that begin with V, and I chose to write a Villanelle.

A villanelle is a 19-line poem, made up of five tercets and quatrain as the last stanza. Lines  follow an ABA rhyme scheme.
The first line of the first stanza is repeated as the last line in stanzas 2 and 4, and is the third line in the final quatrain stanza.
The third line of the first stanza is repeated as the last line in stanzas 3 and 5, and as the last line in the final quatrain stanza.
So - using capitals for the refrains and lowercase letters for the rhymes, the form looks like this:  

A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 A2.

And it's just that easy.

Again, I am better off if I come up with my A1 line and write it in wherever it needs to be, then do the same with any other repeating line.  I add the other lines, making sure of the rhyming and than they all make sense.  I make adjustments to them to make sure they are in a correct rhyming sequence and that they make grammatical sense, etc. before wiping my brow and closing the lid on my laptop. 

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/villanelle-poetic-form

Velociraptor

Oh, Mister Velociraptor, feathered dinosaur bird

You were called the speedy thief

Though small you were undeterred.

You couldn’t fly, but that just insured

You could run fast albeit brief

Oh, Mister Velociraptor, feathered dinosaur bird.

You had teeth, which seems absurd

But that just meant you could deal out grief.

Though small you were undeterred.

You hunted together in a herd

That’s the paleontologists’ belief

Oh, Mister Velociraptor, feathered dinosaur bird

Velociraptor, your name averred

That of winged dinos you were chief.

Though small you were undeterred.

From this one might have inferred

A supper of beef wins over leaf

Oh, Mister Velociraptor, feathered dinosaur bird,

Though small you’re undeterred.

by Donna JT Smith, ©2018

**********************************************************

I should have tried working these two plates into the poem...bet I could have.  Too late.

 

U is for Unicorn and Ubi Sunt

I am participating in the A to Z Challenge this month, and today's letter is U.

Click here for the list of blogs participating.

I have spent the past year-ish taking pictures of Maine vanity plates when I encountered them - most all in shopping center parking lots.  I am writing a poem for each one, and this year the poem form begins with the same letter.

I found 3 Maine vanity plates beginning with U for today, and chose an Ubi Sunt.

Ubi Sunt: This is Latin for “Where are they?”.  An Ubi Sunt begins with this type of questioning and speak to the transitory nature of life and the inevitability of death.  It seemed to fit "UNICORN".

Unicorns No More

Unicorn, where are you?
Wanderer of dreams -
Never where it seems
To be or not to be;

Here nevermore on cue.

In ages past of mine,

Of long ago and misty,
In shadows gray and twisty,
I saw unicorns with horn
In ferniest glades recline.

Now with eyes paled by years
I cannot see the glistening;
My ears have not the listening -
So soon untuned.
Yet for you, my child, it nears.

by Donna JT Smith, ©2018

****************************************
Two more unique plates:

T is for Thorns and Tanka

I am participating in the A to Z Challenge this month, and today's letter is T.

Click here for the list of blogs participating.

 
I have spent the past year-ish taking pictures of Maine vanity plates when I saw them.

I am writing a poem for each one, and this year the poem form begins with the same letter.  I found 6 Maine vanity plates for today, and chose to do a Tanka for THORNS.

Tanka is a classic form of Japanese poetry related to the haiku with five unrhymed lines of five, seven, five, seven, and seven syllables. (5, 7, 5, 7, 7)

The 5/7/5/7/7 rule is rumored to have been made up for school children to understand and learn this type of poetry. For an in depth description of Tanka, please visit the Shadow Poetry Japanese Poetry Tanka section.
http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/tanka.html

Thorns

Sweet the rose in bloom

Its misty fragrance rises 

Sharp the thorns hidden

Dutifully keeping safe

Royalty in the garden

by Donna JT Smith, 2018

********************************************
More Maine Vanity Plates:

As you can see T is a popular letter.

S is for Speed and Sedoka

I am participating in the A to Z Challenge this month, and today's letter is S.

Click here for the list of blogs participating.

I have spent the past year-ish taking pictures of Maine vanity plates when I encountered them - most all in shopping center parking lots.  I am writing a poem for each one, and this year the poem form begins with the same letter.  I found 3 Maine vanity plates for today, and chose a Sedoka.

The Sedoka is an unrhymed poem made up of two three-line katauta with the following syllable counts: 5/7/7, 5/7/7. A Sedoka, pair of katauta as a single poem, may address the same subject from differing perspectives.
http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/sedoka.html

Speed

Head perks up, ears twist,

Pausing in midstride, snort, stomp,

White tailed warning to the herd

Legs blend with saplings

Agile, invisible speed

Blurring tranquility’s space.

by Donna JT Smith, 2018

There is no A to Z on Sunday's...see you Monday!

R is for ROADHSE and Rondel

It is Poetry Friday, and what better news than that the anthology Imperfect: poems about mistakes: an anthology for middleschoolers, editor: Tabatha Yeatts, comes out today and is available through Barnes and Noble??   I'm excited to have three poems in there!

I also wanted to point you in the direction of The Mistakes Anthology blog where I have a riddly poem of a storybook mistake-maker. I'll bet you recognize this character!

Also, I am participating in the A to Z Challenge this month and incorporating National Poetry Month
by writing poem each day.

Click here for the list of blogs participating.

Today's letter for the AtoZ is R.  I have spent the past year-ish taking pictures of Maine vanity plates on cars in parking lots in Maine.  This year each poem form also begins with the same letter.  I found 2 Maine vanity plates for today, and chose a Rondel for ROADHSE.

A Rondel is a French form consisting of 13 lines: two quatrains and a quintet, rhyming as follows: ABba abAB abbaA. The capital letters are the refrains, or repeats.

Roadhouse

By the side of the road, a dusty road,

The red brick home stood straight and tall

Its path to the door welcomed all

With promise of a warm abode.

Where fireside conversation flowed

In spite of night and owl call  

By the side of the road, a dusty road,

The red brick home stood straight and tall.

Its complexion faded and colors yellowed,

Its furnishings encased in pall

And stains of age upon the wall

This was the home that brightly glowed

By the side of the road, a dusty road.

by Donna JT Smith, ©2018

*******************************************
RYSKY is a good poem for another time.

Please visit more poetry goodness at  - oh, wait!!!

It's Tabatha's turn to host at The Opposite of Indifference today!  

Perfect!  

She will probably have a bit to say about

Imperfect!

Q is for QUA8RO and Quinzaine

I am participating in the A to Z Challenge this month, and today's letter is Q.

Click here for the list of blogs participating.

I have spent the past year-ish taking pictures of Maine vanity plates when I saw them.  I am writing a poem for each one, and this year the poem form begins with the same letter.
I only found one vanity plate for this one!  Surprise, surprise!  Q is not one of those popular letters, I guess.

I wrote a Quinzaine for this one.
A quinzaine is an unrhymed verse of fifteen syllables in three lines with the syllable distribution of 7/5/3.  The first line is a statement and the next two lines ask a question relating to the first line.

Quatro

One and two and three and four.

Strumming on guitar?

Or counting?

by Donna JT Smith,  ©2018

***********************************************

Quatro = four in Spanish
Quatro = a small guitar with four or five strings or pairs of strings, used in Latin American and Caribbean music.

Rrrrrr be next!

P is for Puglife and Pantoum

Pantoums do not have to a certain length. They have a repetition of two lines from the first stanza in the following stanza. In the traditional Pantoum form, the first line becomes the last line and the third line becomes the third from last. The last Stanza always has the same format as the previous, except that line 3 of the first stanza becomes the second, and line 1 becomes the last line....ok?  You DO have that all straight in your mind, right??
Okay here it is again in Stanza and Line diagram:

Stanza 1:

4 lines, ABAB rhyme scheme

Stanza 2:

Line 5 (repeat of line 2 in stanza 1)
Line 6 (new line)
Line 7   (repeat of line 4 in stanza 1)
Line 8 (new line)

Stanza 3:

Last Stanza (This is the format for the last stanza regardless of how many preceding stanzas exist):

Line 9   (line 2 of the previous stanza)
Line 10 (line 3 of the first stanza)
Line 11 (line 4 of the previous stanza)
Line 12 (line 1 of the first stanza) 

But really, you can only get a good picture of it when you have a poem in front of you along with the directions.  This is not an easy-peasy form until you have written a few.  When I am writing one, I have to put the letters down the sides along with numbers for each line.  Then when I have one line I copy and paste it into the other line it needs putting in.  And I go from there, making sure the line will really go with the next pasted in line...and edit, edit, sigh, edit.  This one, fortunately, wasn't too hard.  "PUGLIFE" may have been if I hadn't just recently found this new plate!  My titles don't change because I prescheduled these on the AtoZ linkup, and it would have messed up my link.

Pay It Forward

You know you have good you can do.
You have something to offer someone.
A selfless deed, out of the blue -
A "pay it forward" bit of pure fun.

You have something to offer someone.
It doesn't take very long-
A "pay it forward" bit of pure fun -
A sweetness to pass along.

It doesn't take very long -
A selfless deed, out of the blue -
A sweetness to pass along.
You know you have good you can do.

by Donna JT Smith ©2018


Here are two more interesting vanity plates I discovered, but did not write to:

O is for Only 1 and Ode

The vanity plate, Only 1, was going to have an Ode written for it.   It wasn't flowing freely from my brain, so it has been changed to an Ottava Riva - with just a taste of Ode-yness!
I'm investigating Odes and their requirements.  It's way more than the simple definition of praising something with some rhyming thrown in.  Check this link to read a pretty good, thorough discussion about Odes here:

 ➼ODES

Ottava Rima Poems:

Ottava rima are 8 lines with an abababcc rhyme scheme, most commonly written 10-syllable lines. The form can work as a stand alone poem, or be used as connecting stanzas.

This one poured out when I changed to an Ottava Rima.  No idea where it was going when I started it.  But I'm pretty happy with it now.  It is to be read slowly, but enthusiastically with a hint of reverence.

Only One

You are the only one I'll ever love,
The only one who fills the void inside.
You fit me like a hand fits in a glove,
The one that helps me take each day in stride
And seems to give me just the bit of shove
I need to get me ready for this ride.
Oh, coffee, freshly brewed and steaming hot,
When you are gone I'll make another pot!

by Donna JT Smith, ©2018

N is for Nerds and Naani

A vanity plate from Maine, and a poetry form that begin with N:

Poetry form: Naani: Naani originated in India, and consists of 4 lines, the total lines consists of 20 to 25 syllables.

Nerds

Defined by others,

Nerds need no 

Dictionary verification;

It’s of no concern.

© 2018 Donna J.T. Smith