Jun 2018
(With apologies to Dr. Seuss aka Theodor Seuss Geisel)
Green eggs and ham is what I pick
I like my poems un-iambic.
To much pomp and circumstance
Has me gazing quite askance.
I ask your patience Sam I am
For poetic posing I must slam.
My poetry I like to rhyme
In simple form and simple time.
And have it held with just the same
Respect and even mild acclaim.
A birthday card I shall not ****
For that to me would be a sham.
Nor baptism or bar mitzvah
I just do not have the chutzpah.
No wedding notice or get well
Poetic arrogance we must quell.
Each greeting billet I shall defend
As one of our true brethren.
Yes poetry indeed I’ll slam it
No synecdoche* or enjambment.*
I’ll have no Haibun* or Kyrielle*
No Triversen* or Villanelle*.
Is simple rhyme anymore silly
Than didactic forms we praise so shrilly?
I do not like to follow forms.
I do not like these contrived norms.
It is the freedom of poetry
that first attracted me to thee.
And why can’t all poetics be
Of an equal equality.
Perhaps it’s not the forms I hate
But the pompousness they doth dictate.
I will not stand for Seussian abuse
I relish odes to eggs chartreuse.
And so I say to thee dear Sam
My poems are happy as they am.
© Copyright 2018 Robert C. Leung
Green eggs and ham is what I pick
I like my poems un-iambic.
To much pomp and circumstance
Has me gazing quite askance.
I ask your patience Sam I am
For poetic posing I must slam.
My poetry I like to rhyme
In simple form and simple time.
And have it held with just the same
Respect and even mild acclaim.
A birthday card I shall not ****
For that to me would be a sham.
Nor baptism or bar mitzvah
I just do not have the chutzpah.
No wedding notice or get well
Poetic arrogance we must quell.
Each greeting billet I shall defend
As one of our true brethren.
Yes poetry indeed I’ll slam it
No synecdoche* or enjambment.*
I’ll have no Haibun* or Kyrielle*
No Triversen* or Villanelle*.
Is simple rhyme anymore silly
Than didactic forms we praise so shrilly?
I do not like to follow forms.
I do not like these contrived norms.
It is the freedom of poetry
that first attracted me to thee.
And why can’t all poetics be
Of an equal equality.
Perhaps it’s not the forms I hate
But the pompousness they doth dictate.
I will not stand for Seussian abuse
I relish odes to eggs chartreuse.
And so I say to thee dear Sam
My poems are happy as they am.
© Copyright 2018 Robert C. Leung
Enjambment - (in verse) the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
Synecdoche is a form of metaphor, which in mentioning an important (and attached) part signifies the whole (e.g. "hands" for labour).
Triversen. William Carlos Williams invention: six tercets..
• Each stanza equals one sentence.
• Each sentence/stanza breaks into 3 lines (each line is a separate phrase in the sentence).
• There is a variable foot of 2-4 beats per line.
• The poem as a whole should add up to 18 lines (or 6 stanzas).
Villanelle. Five tercets and a quatrain.
The villanelle consists of five tercets and a quatrain with line lengths of 8-10 syllables. The first and third lines of the first stanza become refrains that repeat throughout the poem.
•
Haibun. Japanese form popularized by Matsuo Basho.
The haibun is the combination of two poems: a prose poem and haiku.
•
Kyrielle. Adjustable French form.
The kyrielle is a French four-line stanza form that has a refrain in the fourth line.
Synecdoche is a form of metaphor, which in mentioning an important (and attached) part signifies the whole (e.g. "hands" for labour).
Triversen. William Carlos Williams invention: six tercets..
• Each stanza equals one sentence.
• Each sentence/stanza breaks into 3 lines (each line is a separate phrase in the sentence).
• There is a variable foot of 2-4 beats per line.
• The poem as a whole should add up to 18 lines (or 6 stanzas).
Villanelle. Five tercets and a quatrain.
The villanelle consists of five tercets and a quatrain with line lengths of 8-10 syllables. The first and third lines of the first stanza become refrains that repeat throughout the poem.
•
Haibun. Japanese form popularized by Matsuo Basho.
The haibun is the combination of two poems: a prose poem and haiku.
•
Kyrielle. Adjustable French form.
The kyrielle is a French four-line stanza form that has a refrain in the fourth line.
