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Poetry: July 04, 2018 Issue [#8983]

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Poetry


 This week: Visual or Spatial Verse: Part Seven
  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 poem is a communication from one soul to another that makes one or both hearts sing."

Walter Mayes



"A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself."

Abraham Maslow




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Letter from the editor




Visual or Spatial Verse: Formatting Poetry to Create Added Depth, Part Seven: WDC Member Invented Forms



No matter how you format your poetry it creates a visual by the way you choose things like line lengths, syntax, punctuation, fonts, poem length, stanzas, etc. All these choices and more create a visual; however what I will explore in the next few months is the genre of shaped verse that creates a particular visual for the reader—meshing art and the written word. Today I will share the spatial forms/variations created by WDC members.



Hourglass Verse—A WDC member Variation

This variation was created by Sum1's In Seattle Author Icon. He was playing around with shape poetry and was challenged by his girlfriend to create a poem shaped like an hourglass, and he rose up to the challenge.

His example is here: "HourglassOpen in new Window. [E]


MUST HAVES

--Number of stanzas: 1 unless you are creating a chain.

--Rhyme: Must rhyme. The above example’s rhyme is – AABBCCDDEEFFGGGHHIIJJKKLLMM, but feel free to have a different rhyme scheme.

--Alignment: Center.



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

--Line count: 27 in the example, but feel free to adjust this as needed for your hourglass.

--Meter: None. Focus is on the shape, however this syllabic count for each line can help guide you: 14, 14, 13, 13, 12, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 2, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 12, 13, 13, 14, 14 (adjust as needed for your line count)

--Word count.

--Topic/theme, although to fit the traditional elements of spatial verse you might want to keep it along the lines of hourglasses, time, etc. You may also want the top portion to be an opposite of the bottom portion.




The Mushroom Cloud


This form was created by WDC member Christopher Roy Denton Author Icon, and I’ll let him share more in his own words: “My poem "Silly Boys" uses a shape I call "The Mushroom Cloud" that I use to create a visual dimension to my anti-war song. But it isn't only about the image. The form allows the argument to be developed in varied multiple feet iambic meter within a mirror form stanza before the rhythm picks up dramatically in six mono meter lines and then concludes in a non rhyming, straight concluding sentence.”

Here is a link to his poem, "Silly BoysOpen in new Window. [18+]


MUST HAVES

--Alignment: Centered.

--Line count: 14

--Meter: Iambic, and in the following pattern of feet per line: 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3

--Number of stanzas: 1.

--Rhyme: ABCCCBADEFDEFG


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

--Topic/Theme, although to fit the traditional elements of spatial verse you might want to keep it along the lines of war, bombs, fighting, etc.



NOTE TO REMEMBER: One of the biggest pitfalls I see with this type of formatting is a great urge to create a visual that somehow this becomes the driving force and the poem suffers for it. Either the careful word choice is scrapped to make sure the specific shape is adhered to, or the use of metaphor and simile and other tools to create a depth of meaning are lacking because the focus was all about the shape. As in anything in life, the key is balance. Remember, you are creating a poem. Don’t let the formatting take over. Instead let it enhance and entrance the reader.

Don’t forget to send me the spatial forms you’ve created so we can share them with the newsletter next month!



SOURCE NOTES:

Sum1's In Seattle Author Icon

Christopher Roy Denton Author Icon


Thanks for sharing, guys!



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Editor's Picks



Theme: Some shape poetry

Candle Open in new Window. [E]
Everyone needs a candle now and then
by Sum1's In Seattle Author Icon

 
#2 Classic Open in new Window. [E]
The original pencil.
by Teargen Author Icon

 The Atom's Heart Open in new Window. [13+]
This is a shaped poem. An atomic bomb.
by Prosperous Snow celebrating Author Icon

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor

WDC Open in new Window. [E]
A Shape poem about a favored labor of love.
by JACE Author Icon





 
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Ask & Answer



Have a question, answer, problem, solution, tip, trick, cheer, jeer, or extra million lying around?

If so, send it through the feedback section at the bottom of this newsletter OR click the little envelope next to my name Red Writing Hood <3 Author IconMail Icon and send it through email.


Comments on last month's newsletter:


The comments from last month were featured above, so in this space this month I'll ask a question: Have you created a poetry form or form variation? If so, what do you call it? Feel free to share with the Poetry Newsletter!

Thanks, and have a great month!

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