AMPHION

The amphion is a 10-line structure in iambic meter.  Lines 1, 4, 7, and 10 are tetrameter (4 beats), and they are separated by couplets in dimeter (2 beats). The rhyme scheme is abbaccdeed.

Here's a sample poem from *Mary Harper Sowell's collectiion called Poetry Patterns A-Z.

Glorious Springtime

The signs of Spring are everywhere--
               Golden skies,
               Butterflies.
Showers cleanse the April air;
               Gypsy breeze,
               Dancing trees.
The multitude of birds that sing;
              Rushing streams,
              Newborn dreams--
A glorious season is the Spring.


*Mary Harper Sowell  (deceased) was a teacher of the blind. She lived in Fairfield Bay, AR, and was a member of the writers' group there.  She was probably also a member of Poets Round Table of Arkansas.

ASIAN SONNET

We are beholden to Eleanor Berry, a past president of National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS), for these definitions and examples of the specific format.   

In September, 1963, Dr. Yuzon and some Filipino poets met, organized, and founded UPLI. On this great occasion, he wrote the following Asian Sonnet which he invented, rhymed a-b-a-a-b, c-d-c-c-d, e-f-e-f, published in its official organ “Laurel Leaves”, Autumn issue, September 30, 1977.

ASIAN SONNET

On the foundation of UPLI

Objective: World Brotherhood and Peace Through Poetry

At Hotel Filipinas years ago,

In 1963, though only few.

We founded what today the poets know

As UPLI -Laureates with their spreading glow

To make world peace a golden dream come true.

With voice triumphant like the lark at morn

We dared with lyric songs the curse of wars;

Through Laurel Leaves we blew the battle horn;

Though Poets Congresses are manger born;

We shall never stop reaching for the stars.

For , sermons on the mount we shall deliver

And give mankind a ladder to the skies

Until such time when poetry can ever

Redeem from hatred our lost Paradise.

Eleanor comments that the "Asian sonnet" doesn't appear to have caught on outside of UPLI. She found for us another example, this one on the Moontown Cafe website. The poem is preceded by a description of the form, as follows:

This is an unusual form made up of  two cinquain stanzas and a quatrain. The rhyme scheme is  abaab, cdccd, efef. The description of the structure said the first stanza had to be either a pastoral scene or make use of pastoral imagery. 

Blossoming

So young and supple, like a flower.
As subtle as a blushing rose.
This bud that brightens by the hour
And blooms so sweetly from the dour,
Will gently deepen as it grows.

A lass that fruits to modern maiden,
Alas, is vined on heaven''s grace
And though such picks are yet forbidden,
The loveliest of angels laden,
Is cherished o''er the tender trace.

A yearning heart is sorely tempted
To sweep aside the barren truth;
When age and wisdom are preempted
By blossoming of vibrant youth.

By sailboat On 12/22/2011 1:50:27 PM

She concludes:  "If the form has been used to any extent, I certainly hope there are better examples! But the above is what Google turned up when I searched for Asian sonnet (in quotes, so the search was for the whole phrase, not just for the individual words).  Hope this helps. Eleanor."


florencebruce@att.net

BALLAD AND BALLAD STANZA

The ballad is a rhymed form adapted for singing or recitation. Thrall & Hibbard 's Handbook to Literature speaks of the ballad as a simple narrative of a dramatic and exciting episode. Hence, the poem should tell a story in a series of quatrains. 

The ballad stanza, specific to the form, is a 4-line stanza containing 8 syllables (4 poetic feet) in lines 1 and 3; 6 syllables (3 poetic feet) in lines 2 and 4.  This often used 4/3--4/3 meter is sometimes called "rocking horse" rhythm. The meter is usually iambic (u/).  The rhyme scheme is a-b-c-b.

Here's an example of a typical ballad stanza:   

There lived a wife at Usher's Well,
and a wealthy wife was she;
she had three stout and stalwart sons,
and sent them o'er the sea. 

Florence Bruce, the blogger
Contact me at 
florencebruce@att.net

BEYMORLIN SONNET

The Beymorlin sonnet is a double-rhymed sonnet form requiring internal rhyme as well as end rhyme.  The internal rhyme must fall on the 2nd syllable of each line. The rhyme schemes may be Shakespearean or Petrarchan, but the two must match within any single poem. Call attention to internal rhyme with underlining, as shown in the two examples,which are taken from Encore, 1999.

ATTIC VOICES

(Note in this example that the internal and end rhymes are both Shakespearean.)

The dust explodes through morning rays of sun
And scatters like a nightworks summer night,
While rusty whispers cough, then jump and run,
And splatter into nothingness in flight.
Thick guardian webs hold tightly to the door,
But secrets beckon me to set them free.
They pardon my intrusion - as before -
When deepest love imprisoned all of me.
And there I wept. With trembling heart and hand,
I turn the brass, and seek to bind the tie.
I dare indulge the shackled ghost's command
I yearn to dream to one more lullaby.

Oh, dearest Gran!  How could my heart have known
That here, for me, is shelved your wedding gown.

Jeani M. Picklesimer, Ashland, KY


RESTORATION

(Note matching Petrarchan rhyme schemes in this second example.)

The canvas of my life is thickly spread
With layers, overpainted, while I sign,
And say each is the best I can design,
But plan another, as the words are said.
If I could mold myself of daily clay,
Destroy the armature deep at my core,
Employ a finer chisel than before
Or try new stone to carve for my display --

I would begin my tale with chapter one;
Rewrite the wasted years, erase the shame.
Defeat, despair and failure I would scorn.
I could be splendid when my work was done.
A bright new talent critics would acclaim.
How sweet, if dreams, like days, were newly born!

Dian S. Barnett, Marietta, GA


Contact the blogger at
florencebruce@att.net

BLANK VERSE NARRATIVE

       Blank verse is iambic pentameter without rhyme. That means each line contains 10 syllables or 5 iambic feet.  One iambic foot contains 2 syllables, the first unstressed, the second stressed. One iambic foot is symbolized as u/.  The symbol is repeated 5 times to represent one line of iambic pentameter:  u/ u/ u/ u/ u/.  Don't be intimated by the expression "iambic pentameter."  It's really very easy to write because the English language is highly iambic, which gives us a lot of help.  

       In a blank verse narrative poem, the poet must tell a story.  It can be humorous or serious.  Here's a serious example of a blank verse narrative poem:

Viola's Week

"I wish the phone would ring," Viola said,
one boring day. The talking to herself
was frequent now. Who knows when it began?
Some days were busy--Sundays at the church.
On Wednesday nights she took a covered dish.
Constructing that consumed an hour or two.
The longest days were Mondays, and the dread
of Monday started late in every week.
When she no longer drove, she quit the choir,
So Thursdays, which had once been fuller, dragged.
On Tuesdays she played Bunko with the girls
if they stayed well. Four hostesses took turns,
but Bunko games might soon be ending now
that Peggy had sustained a T.I.A.
Viola gave up sewing --well, the mess
that sewing left! The scraps, stray pins, loose threads!
The children came on weekends when they could
and helped with shopping, putting things away.
She understood how they had their own lives;
she'd told them so a hundred times or more.
So Fridays could be loneliest of all
on learning that the children couldn't come.
Well, getting a shampoo used up some hours
on Friday morning. She was home by noon.
She thought of volunteering, but she feared
she might not get the weekday she preferred.
She'd tell them she was free that day, of course.
They mustn't think time heavy on her hands.

One boring day, while talking to herself,
Viola said, "I wish the phone would ring."


(Sample poems above contributed by
Florence Bruce, the blogger.)

florencebruce@att.net

BURMA SHAVE

Burma-Shave. a shaving cream company, ran an ad campaign from 1927 to 1963 consisting of sequential billboards along highways. Six billboards were used to spell out the message, a 5-line rhymed jingle followed by the words Burma Shave.  They are always wry humorous messages about driver safety.

Here are some examples:     

Spring
has sprung.
The grass has riz
where last year's
careless driver is.
BURMA SHAVE



Proper
distance
to him was bunk.
They pulled him out
of some guy's trunk.
BURMA SHAVE


florencebruce@att.net

                                                

BUTTERFLY

The Butterfly is a 6-line syllable count structure, with count 8-8-4-4-8-8 and rhyme scheme  a-a-b-b-c-c.  The message should be a flitting thought expressed in one sentence.  Here's an example from Mary Harper Sowell's little collection called  Poetry Patterns A-Z.   Mary (now deceased) was a teacher of the blind in Arkansas.

Too Late the Rose

When Granny Jenkins was alive,
alone she managed to survive
the lonely years
with hidden tears,   
but when she died, the people came
to bring bouquets and praise her name.

Take care not to confuse the above butterfly format above with that of the butterfly cinquain.  They are two separate poetry forms.



Contact the blogger at
florencebruce@att.net

BUTTERFLY CINQUAIN

The butterfly cinquain is a 9-line poem which takes the shape of a butterfly when the lines are centered.  The syllable count per line is 2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2.   Take care not to confuse this form with the butterfly (not a cinquain form).  They are two separate structures.

Here is an example of butterfly cinquain from the internet.  Note it has been given a title.

One in a Million

My love,
You are my all,
My heart, it beats your name,
All I can think about is you,
You are
My one in a million, you …
There is no one like you!
You complete me,
My 'One'.

I don't really like this example because line 6 is faulty. A contest judge would have to throw it out.  Contest judges are looking for correct STANDARD format -- not innovations in format. In contest poetry, if you want to be original, do it in your choice of subject matter or your approach, never your format. 

Here's another example, this one by C. Richard Miles.  Unfortunately, it also contains a faulty line, line 3. Frankly, I don't find the internet the best source for examples of poetry format.   This one was not titled. I'll so  some more digging to discover what is considered correct in the matter of  providing or not providing a title for butterfly cinquain. 

Fly by
Blue Butterflies
As you dimly remember
Distant days of drizzle-drenched spring
When you
Were half-drowned, ground-bound, round children,
Green-cast, grass-fast massed lines:
Caterpillars
On leaves.  

Here's another one.  This poet signs herself "Rainwalker" on the internet. Note the centering.  Note that in all the examples, each line opens with a capital letter.  I do like to see some effort made at consistency within any given format.  Otherwise the creative waters get pretty muddied up, don't you agree?

This one seems more "correct" than the others.  It was not given a title. 

Fragile
lace-winged beauty.
Inspired by brightest hues
rainbow bold on each side; mirrored.
Graceful.
A symbol of transformation.
Break from your chrysalis
and breathe clear air.
New life.

Contact the blogger at
florencebruce@aat.net

CAMEO

        The cameo, correctly defined as "a thumbnail sketch," is a 7-line syllable-count poem invented by a member of Poets Roundtable of Arkansas (PRA). No rhyme or meter is required. The message is limited to one sentence. Syllable count per line is 2-5-8-3-8-7-2, for a total of 35 syllables. Take care not to use two thoughts separated by a semicolon. In fact, it's a good idea to avoid the semicolon in this form.   

        Intangible subjects seem to work as well as tangibles in this short format.  I suggest that you try both experimentally.  Line endings should be strong throughout.  End the lines where pauses and stops occur normally in our language. Never break a line in the middle of a grammatical structure. This is demonstrated in the examples below written by the blogger, F. Bruce. 

Best of luck in writing the cameo,which is more challenging than it might at first appear. 

SPIDER (tangible subject)

Spider, 
brilliant architect,
producer of multiple silks
for weaving,
traps the fly on his web's wet lines
and walks himself on the dry,
safely. 

BOREDOM (intangible subject)

Boredom
seeps into my bones
wraps my central nervous system
in cotton,
obfuscating concentration,
canceling motivation,
yawning.


florencebruce@att,net

CHOKA

        An intricate Japanese poetry form is the choka or long poem. It's a form of waka, Japanese court poetry of the 6th to 14th century.  It is given a title. 

        This syllablic poem may take the form of 5/7/7/5/7/7 . . ., etc.,  or 5/7/5/5/7/5. . ., etc.   These structures are called katuata. An alternative is  alternating 5 and 7 syllable lines with an extra 7-syllable line at the end.  The poem may contain any number of stanzas, so the total length of the poem is indefinite.

The Moth

There is no freedom.
Escaping from my cocoon
I must seek you once again.
I am drawn to you
like a moth to a candle,
circling nearer and nearer. 
The deadly flame calls.
Now my wings are scorched.
Why must my nature be so? 

I'll try to add other examples as I find them. 

CINQUAIN

     Many new forms have been created by local poets over recent decades, including the cameo, the etheree, and the lil-ann.  
     Lee Ann Russell, in her helpful book How to Write Poetry (3rd edition, 2000), tells us  that cinquain is another of those recently invented forms, this one by Adelaide Crapsey. (Yes, that's really her name!)
     Cinquain is a 5-line structure with syllable count 2-4-6-8-2.  There are other, less popular, less frequently seen forms of cinquain, but the one usually called for in poetry contests is the 2-4-6-8-2
format.  

  Here's the example from Lee Ann Russell's book:

Promise

The barn
with golden hay
nestles within its eaves
a promise for the winter days
ahead.
(author not given)


Sometimes a contest brochure will call for a cinquain sequence.  This is a string of cinquains, all related to the subject of the poem.  Russell H. Strauss, current PST president, says that each cinquain in a sequence should not only work well as part of the sequence but should also be able to stand alone as a separate and distinct poem.  Russ provided the sample below.


The Last Prophet 

She limps
from that beating
so many years ago.
Gray coat, gray hair match gathering
rain clouds.


Pausing,
she wonders how
her mother would have looked
had Nazis allowed her to live,
to age.


Students
will ask questions.
Memories from those days
will wound her soul like painful probes
cut flesh.


Prophets
in Israel
did not merely predict.
They torched a nation with the fire
of words.


She knows,
if we forget,
man's darkness could return.
At ninety, she speaks to redeem
our world.


Contact the blogger at
florencebruce@att.net

CHORIAMB

The choriamb is symbolized  as  / u u /   A slash represents a stressed syllable, and the small u represents non-stressed.  

The choriamb sounds like a bobble in the poet’s attempt at perfect rhythm such as iambic pentameter.  More recently, however, critics have come to accept the choriamb as a useful trick – even a deliberately  employed trick (bobble) by the poet to break boring monotony. And you know how monotonous iambic pentameter of any length can be. 

Here are some lines from classic poets that might be used to illustrate the choriamb, or what has come to be accepted as choriamb and not technical error.

1.           Milton! Thou should’st be living at this hour.  (iambic pentameter – Wordsworth - “London, 1802”)

2.           A traveler between life and death.  (i.tetrameter  – Wordsworth  - “She was a Phantom”)

3.           On with the dance! Let joy be unconfined.  (i.pentameter - Lord Byron – “There was a Sound of          Revelry by Night”)

Example 1 opens with a choriamb.  Example 3, likewise. The choriamb in example 2 starts on the last syllable of the word traveler. \

Examples can be found in Keats and Shelley as well although the term was not employed at that time.   

CLERIHEW

The clerihew, invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley, is a 4-line structure with couplet rhyme.  It requires no specific meter or syllable count.  It is not titled, but the first line must name the person the poem comments on.

Another source describes the clerihew as a whimsical, 4-line biographical poem.

Here are two examples:

Sir Humphrey Davy
detested gravy.
He lived in the odium
of having discovered sodium.

Sir Christopher Wren
said, "I'm going to dine with some men."
If anyone calls,
say I'm designing St. Paul's."

COLLINS SESTET

The Collins sestet contains three stanzas of 6 lines each, for a total length of 18 lines. Couplet  rhyme is used, 3 couplets to each stanza, but each of the three stanzas ends with a repeat of the final couplet from stanza one.  The meter appears to be iambic tetrameter.

The only example I've found is too imperfect to include here. I'm looking for better examples.  Hang in, please.

DEVINE

The devine contains 2 stanzas, 4 lines each, in iambic meter.  The syllable count per line is 10, 8, 6, 4, 10, 8, 6, 4.  The rhyme scheme is abcd-abcd.

Here's a sample, again from Ms. Sowell's book Poetry Patterns A-Z. 

I Think of You

I think of you when early morning sun
begins to spread its rosy hue.
As long as we're apart
my heart will yearn.

I think of you whenever day is done
and moonbeams bathe the world in blue.
I'll keep you in my heart
till you return.

DORSIMBRA

       The dorsimbra was invented by three members of Poetry Society of Tennessee (PST): Frieda Dorris, Robert Simonton, and Eve Braden. All three (deceased) were talented, versatile poets.

       The poem is 12 lines long. The first 4 lines written in iambic pentameter, rhymed abab, look like the opening of a Shakespearean sonnet.  The next 4 lines are terse (short, choppy) free verse. The final 4 lines are blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter), with the final line repeating the opening line of the poem.   

       The tone and topic of the dorsimbra are usually serious, but seriousness is not a requirement.  The dorsimbra is often a love poem. Some writers, who see the dorsimbra as a formal structure like the sonnet, disapprove of the use of contractions.  Participants in a dorsimbra contest need to keep that little quirk in mind. 

Below are some examples:

FROM MOONLIGHT UNTIL DAWN
(in memory of Eve Braden)

Her poems danced through moonlight and through rain,
no matter what the sorrows in her life.
Her writing lifted her above the pain. 
She overcame the darkness and the strife.

From moonlight
until dawn
she dances now
above the grief.

Her poetry was songs of love and hope--
her words gave rainbows when the skies were gray.
They spoke of worlds with harmony and peace.
Her poems danced through moonlight and through rain. 

Frances Cowden 

This second example is light in tone.

WRITING A DORSIMBRA

Composing a dorsimbra can be fun!
Accept the challenge; master this neat trick.
Come learn right here the way to create one,
and, fear not, you will catch on pretty quick.

A twelve-line poem,
but be sure
to repeat
the first line last.

It opens like a sonnet with four lines
that rhyme a-b-a-b and bump just right.
Then four of free style--final four, blank verse.
Composing a dorsimbra can be fun! 

F. Bruce, The Blogger 

florencebruce@att.net

DOUBLE DACTYL

         
       The double dactyl, like the limerick has a fixed structure and is usually humorous. It is seen as more rigid and difficult to write, however, than the limerick.  

       Two stanzas are required, each containing three lines of dactylic dimeter (/uu /uu) followed by a line made up of just one choriamb (/uu/).  The two stanzas must rhyme on their last lines. 

       The first line of the first stanza is repetitive nonsense. The second line of the first stanza is the subject of the poem, which is supposed to be a double-dactylic proper noun (though Hecht and other poets sometimes bent or ignored this rule). Another requirement is at least one line, preferably the second line of the second stanza, that is one double dactyl word. Some purists still follow Hecht and Pascal's original rule that no single six-syllable word, once used in a double dactyl, should ever be knowingly used again.  

       These little poems are given titles.

       Here's an example by John Hollander:

Higgledy Piggledy 

Higgledy piggledy,

Benjamin Harrison, 

twenty-third president,

was, and, as such, 

served between Clevelands and, 

save for this trivial 

idiosyncrasy, 

didn't do much.

MORE EXAMPLES

Donald the Trumpeter

Elephant smell-ephant

Donald the Trumpeter

Blasting his crazy horn

Spit blowing mutt

First Chair Re-thug-lican

Lunatic's ensemble

Incontrovertibly

Twit-brained wingnut

Words 

Higgledy Piggledy
William Wordseeker
pins on the wall
all the words he has found.

He likes to say that his
lexicographical
treasures are now
erinaceously bound.

Good luck with your attempts at this fun but difficult form.

florencebruce@att.net
 

DUTREY

We rarely see the dutrey, but it is not a new form.  Maude Adams of Micanopy, FL, introduced it in 1939 in a magazine titled Reflections.  The form has 17 lines, and opens and closes with identical refrain lines. The rhyme scheme is A1-A2-b-b-b-a-a-c-c-c-a-a-d-d-d-A1-A2.

The meter is trochaic tetrameter.   I think the best remembered poem in that meter is "Hiawatha" by Longfellow.  In his poem, however, the meter seems to march with a somewhat heavier tread than that in the dutrey, or at least in this sample.

Elfin Song

 Elves bestir themselves at night

 When the coral buds are tight.  

See that roguish little gnome

Push the trillium through the loam?

Cock crow bids him scamper home,

At the dawn's first copper light.

When the noon is hot and white

Weaver-fairies may begin — 

Teach the spider how to spin

Delicate and fragile-thin,

Like an elfin thistle-kite

Keeping milkweed fluff in sight.

What a moonlight promenade.

In the fragrant lilac shade

With the goblins on parade!

 Elves bestir themselves at night 

When the coral buds are tight.

                      Margarette Dickson


Try your hand at the dutrey.
Contact the blogger at florencebruce@att.net.

ECHO SONNET

We are indebted to Sara Gipson of Poets' Roundtable of Arkansas for this (new?) form and for allowing us to publish her winning poem as an example.

Like any sonnet form, the echo sonnet contains 14 lines and is written in iambic pentameter.  In appearance, it is like the Shakespearean sonnet, with 3 stanzas of 4 lines and a final couplet. To produce the "echo", line 4 of stanza 1 is repeated as lines 8 and 12, and lines 1 and 4 are repeated as the couplet. as shown in the example below.  The rhyme scheme is abba-acca-adda-aa.

Here's the example:

Inspired by Spring

A breath of spring inspires this poet's words
to thaw and flow in ink inscribed remarks
that burst from souls as sudden shooting sparks
with notes of music sung by choirs of birds.

From fingers frozen like old bison herds
entrapped by blasts of arctic winter chills
come ardent rhythms penned by hands with quills
with notes of music sung by choirs of birds.

How often lyrics born of poem curds
become the songs enchanting lover's hearts
because it's often nature stirring arts
with notes of music sung by choirs of birds.

A breath of spring inspires this poet's words
with notes of music sung by choirs of birds.

Sara Gipson
Scott, Arkansas

EKPHRASTIC POETRY

EKPHRASTIC POETRY  

Here's a definition of ekphrasis.

Ekphrasis (n.):  Writing that comments upon another art form.

An example would be a poem about a photograph or a famous painting. Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats is a prime example of this type of writing, since the entire poem concerns the appearance and meaning of an ancient piece of pottery.

Ode on a Grecian Urn is readily available in poetry collections. Since it is lengthy (5 stanzas of 10 lines each), it is not copied here. 

florencebruce@att.net

ELEGY

An elegy, in simple terms, is a lyric poem setting forth a poet's meditations on death or an expression of grief.  For example, a poet today might write an elegy expressing grief over the sudden and unexpected death of Calvin Coolidge at age 60  in 1933, or the murder of Bobby Kennedy at age 43 in 1968.  

Many years ago the elegy was distinguishable by its very complicated format (dactylic hexameter, for heaven's sake!), but that is no longer required.

The most famous elegy in the English language today is Thomas Gray's (1716-1771) Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.  This lengthy poem is available in most anthologies of famous poetry, and so it is not reproduced here.  The format is iambic pentameter with rhyme scheme a-b-a-b.

Here is one stanza from Gray's Elegy:

   The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
   The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea,
   The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
   And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

You might also take a look at An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog by Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774), which is much shorter. Goldsmith uses 8 stanzas of alternating iambic tetrameter (4 beats) with trimeter (3 beats), which is sometimes referred to as "rocking horse rhythm." Again, the rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b.

Here's one stanza from Goldsmith:

   The dog and man at first were friends;
        But when a pique began,
   The dog, to gain some private ends,
        Went mad and bit the man.
 

In the Merriam Webster's Reader's Handbook of Literary Terms, we are told that the elegy may also be used to lament or express sorrow over something that is past.

And finally, I think the elegaic poem today is an expression of grief or a lamentation over loss. The poem may be of any length, in any form, with or without specific meter, and with or without specific rhyme. In other words, subject matter now defines the elegy.

EPIGRAM

       The epigram is a brief, witty statement in prose or verse, similar to an aphorism. The examples here are all in verse.   

Life's saving graces are love, pleasure, laughter.
(Wisdom, it seems, is for the hereafter.)

                        Michael R. Burch

Men seldom make passes
at girls who wear glasses.

                        Dorothy Parker

Candy
is dandy,
but liquor
is quicker.

                        Ogden Nash

ERCIL

The ervil  is a 10-line structure written in iambic meter.  The syllable count per line is 4, 6, 7, 10, 4, 6, 8, 10, 6, 6.  The rhyme pattern is ababcdcdee.

The sample is from Ms. Sowell's collection, Poetry Patterns A-Z.

Strip Tease

In autumn gown
of iridescent hue
from summer green to golden brown,
the slender oak stands waiting for her cue.
With head held high
she slowly, one by one,
drops leafy garments with a sigh
as windblown clouds obscure the autumn sun.
With barren limbs unfurled,
she greets the winter world.

ETHEREE

      The etheree is a 10-line form invented by Etheree Armstrong of Missouri. It requires syllable count per line of 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. Meter and rhyme was not required. Any number of sentences may be used. The trick is to create a memorable message within the required format. Of interest, the 1999 contest brochure published by Poets' Round Table of Arkansas spoke of this form as containing imagery and possible undertones of a second meaning. 

       In appearance, the etheree was done initially as a wedge, flush to the left.  In recent years, however, other formats have apparently become acceptable. For example, the poem may appear as a pyramid. Recently I was told it may also be typed flush to the right, although I have never seen one published in that format. 

      The examples below are from "Intriguing Etheree," a small collection by Ted Badger and E. A. Henderson, published by Bear House, Eureka Springs, AR, in 1996.  The poem in this collection were all flush to the left.  I have reshaped the 4th and last example to illustrate the other two formats.
     
     In submitting contest etheree,  especially to NFSPS, I would recommend that the poet stay with the initial format-- that is, flush to the left -- because we cannot know how informed the judge might be regarding recent changes in the acceptability of other formats.  It's your poem, and the decision is always up to you, of course, but that is my recommendation.    

A Toast 

This
brandy
reminds me
of my mother.
I see her again
wanting to celebrate
each day's small victory, and
to soften the edges of loss.
Her celebrations lifted us all
and taught us proper disdain for defeat.

Widower 

The
old man
who has been
a pest for year--
ever since his wife
left him unprepared for
life alone--is now finding 
it difficult to drive, or walk,
and I, who heartily dislike him,
find impatience giving way to pity. 

Angst

Life
often
is enriched
by happenings
we did not expect
and preferred to avoid.
Unsolicited problems
shake and rattle our composure,
disturb our peace and make us forget
that sugar sweetens tea only if stirred.




                      Calumny (a pyramid)

                           I
                     cannot
                  understand
                 why anyone
               would aspire to be
             President of our land.
             We vilify, demonize,
         ridicule, belittle and scorn,
  forgetting they, like us, are human.
Even broken clocks are right twice a day.


         Calumny (flush to the right) 

                                                                I
                                                       cannot
                                                understand
                                               why anyone
                                     would aspire to be
                                President of our land.
                                  We vilify, demonize,
                        ridicule, belittle and scorn,
           forgetting they, like us, are human.
   Even broken clocks are right twice a day.


 The internet shows the "Reverse Etheree" as one stanza of 10 to 1 and a second stanza of 1 to 10, and I believe that definition will be honored in the Mid-South Poetry Festival contest. 

florencebruce@att.net