Poetry: August 03, 2016 Issue [#7782]
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Poetry


 This week: Summer Time Family Time Poetry
  Edited by: Red Writing Hood <3 Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter



"A good poem creates a world that somehow touches the reader. That world is built of images that come to the reader through vivid sense details and the music of vivacious language."

Paul Janeczko



"Teach your children poetry; it opens the mind, lends grace to wisdom and makes the heroic virtues hereditary."

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)



"Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds."

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)





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Letter from the editor



Summer Time Family Time Poetry



We’re in the heart of the summer in the United States. It’s prime time for family cook outs, get-togethers, family reunions, pool parties—time to pack as many memories in the moments as possible.

Just this weekend I was at two family parties. We ate, we sang, we danced, we played games and ate some more!

This month I’ve selected some forms that remind me of the family fun of singing and dancing—and a little bit of the silliness of family gatherings.



Mad Song Stanza


This stanza form dates back about 500 or so years.


MUST HAVES


--Line count: 5.

--Rhyme: A, B, C, C, B

--Meter is limerick-like:

Da DUM, Da DUM Da DUM
Da DUM, Da DUM Da DUM
Da DUM, Da DUM
Da DUM, Da DUM
Da DUM, Da DUM Da DUM



COULD HAVES or WHAT IS THE POET’S CHOICE IN ALL THIS?


--So, see above where it says the meter is like the limerick? Limericks are funny, but the mad song stanza takes it in a different direction. It can be funny, but only in its madness—its craziness. Try to imagine that the person speaking knows something we don’t quite understand yet. Something that is just out of reach of our understanding.

--Number of stanzas: As many or as few as you want.



Dream Song


Created around the mid 1900’s by John Berryman.


MUST HAVES


--Line count: 6 lines per stanza for total of 18.

--Number of stanzas: 3.

--Topic: Dreams.


COULD HAVES or WHAT IS THE POET’S CHOICE IN ALL THIS?


--Meter: Your choice, but each stanza is usually different.

--Rhyme: Do rhyme, but choose whatever you’d like—and again, each stanza tends to be different.


The Bop


I was first drawn to the bop poetry form because it made me think about music and dancing. While researching the form I was drawn further to it because of its initial use as a poetry writing exploratory tool. Now, I think it’s just plain fun to play with the form.


BRIEF HISTORY


The Bop was created by Michael S. Weaver (aka Afaa Michael Weaver) in 1997. As mentioned above, he invented the form for his students for poetry practice. The name of the poetry form came from a word used around the area he grew up in Baltimore. “[B]op referred to the way a man in particular walked down the street. It was his signature to the world!” Mr. Weaver continues with, “[a]s a poetic form the bop may be seen as the way a poet presents himself or herself to the world as a performance” (Wiggerman and Meischen, 190).


MUST HAVES


I found two variations of the bop. There is the original 3 stanza bop and the 4 stanza variation. Each type of bop utilizes a repeated line after each stanza.


*Standard Bop*

--Three stanzas. The first and third stanzas are six lines, and the second stanza is eight lines. There is a line repeated after each stanza for a total of 23 lines.

--Topic should either argue an issue or celebrate something (person, place, thing, emotion, etcetera). The stanzas progress the topic. The first stanza states the issue or the object of celebration. The second explores the issue or object of celebration. The final stanza resolves the issue or is the celebration of the object in progress.

--The repeated line can be “taken from popular music or created by the poet” (Wiggerman and Meischen, 190). See ‘OF NOTE’ section for more on this.


*Extended Bop Variation*


--Four stanzas. The first, third, and fourth stanzas are six lines each, and the second stanza is eight lines. There is a line repeated after each stanza for a total of 30 lines.

--The topic of the extended bop tends to argue an issue. Just as in the standard bop, the stanzas progress the topic. The first stanza states the issue. The second explores the issue. The third stanza tries to resolve the issue. The final stanza then notes that the issue is not resolved.

--Just as in the standard bop, the repeated line can be “taken from popular music or created by the poet” (Wiggerman and Meischen, 190). See ‘OF NOTE’ section for more on this.


COULD HAVES or WHAT IS THE POET’S CHOICE IN ALL THIS?


--Any rhyme scheme, including no rhyme scheme.

--Any meter, including no set meter.


OF NOTE


There are two things you want to keep in mind. In any poetry using a refrain, the poet wants it to make an impact. Think carefully about what line you want repeating through your bop. Next, if you use a line from music that isn’t in the public domain, be careful about copyright laws. In the public domain or not, please remember to cite your source. This is a non-issue when the repeated line is from your own creation.


SOURCE NOTES:


http://www.florilegium.org/?http%3A//www.florilegium.org/files/PERFORMANCE-ARTS/...
http://www.poemhunter.com/i/ebooks/pdf/john_berryman_2012_7.pdf
Wiggerman, Scott, and David Meischen. Wingbeats: Exercises and Practice in Poetry. 1st. Austin, TX: Dos Gatos Press, 2011. Print.
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5773



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Editor's Picks



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building or fixing a home - for the Third Son of Slam Contest
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2nd haiku won Honorable Mention in Idril's Abstract Poetry Contest '04.
by VictoriaMcCullough Author Icon

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Llimerick- like take on the dreaded H -Word, housework! From a published book of mine.
by tosca Author Icon

 A Disney World Memory Open in new Window. [ASR]
A poem detailing a family memory from Disney World.
by Harry Author Icon

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 I'm Older! Open in new Window. [E]
Personal story: rhyming poem of a young child's funny words
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Comments on last month's newsletter:


From: A*Monaing*Faith Author Icon
Comment: I had fun with this on my blog "The Devils Bible and My Birth Month celebrationsOpen in new Window.


Thank you so much for sharing!



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