Skip to main content

Fun With Word Pattern Poetry


Poets sometimes like to play around with structure and shape. And because it is #Poetry Friday, I decided to play around with some poetry structures. It was at this point I found myself aware of poetry's connection to mathematics. I began to think of a structure involving a word pattern that went:

First line -3 words
Second line- 2 words
Third line - 1 word
Fourth line -1 word
Fifth line - 2 words
Sixth line - 3 words

So the pattern went like this: 3,2,1,1,2,3. The poem is dependent on word count per line, not syllables.

I'm really not sure what to call this poetic structure. Maybe, I could call them Flip Poems. If anybody has used this structure before and knows exactly what it is called, kindly let me know. My research has so far not turned up anything to suggest these poems have a given name.

Here are a couple of examples from my notebook.

In the morning
Magpies carol
Joyfully
This
Daily birdsong
Warms my heart













The cruel wind
Complains noisily
Whoosh
Push
Howling, screaming
Blow hard, bully




Comments

  1. Hi Alan. I enjoyed these! I like "Blow hard bully" (I'm hearing "blowhard bully" which adds another layer to the wind's personality.) haven't heard of this form before. Flip Poems sounds like a good name for them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Violet. Glad you like the name, Flip Poems. You have alerted me to the need to add a comma after hard to clarify the difference between blowhard and blow hard.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like them. I am not familiar with a form like this one. Flip seems like a good name.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Brenda. The name is growing on me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. They do look like fun, Alan - but you realise you're a rule-breaker from the get-go? Your second poem doesn't follow the format, because it only has one line with one word - not two. I quite like the way the second poem pivots on that one word - almost a centre-twist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your close and considered reading Katherine. It was a typing omission. It slipped out of the original. I have made amends.

      Delete
  6. Fun form - flip poems sums it up perfectly. =)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life Cycle -A football poem by Bruce Dawe

This poem by Australian poet Bruce Dawe epitomises the unique connection sporting tragics have to their preferred football teams, -an almost tribal allegiance. Each season supporters stare down the twin imposters- victory and defeat. They remain both loyal and hopeful of eventual triumph. This poem refers specifically to Australian Rules Football, but it's themes are universal. I share this poem on the eve of the 2017 Grand Final to decide the Premiership for this football season. My team, the Richmond Tigers have reached the play off to decide the ultimate victor. They have not contested the Grand Final match for 35 years. My hopes fly with them. This poem links two of my great loves -football and poetry... Life Cycle When children are born in Victoria they are wrapped in club-colours, laid in beribboned cots, having already begun a lifetime’s barracking. Carn, they cry, Carn … feebly at first while parents playfully tussle with them for possession of a rusk: Ah, he

Poetry Friday: The Safety Pin Poem

Poets not only write poetry, they also read poetry. In order to be able to write poetry, one must read it. Lots of poetry in fact...  I want to share a short little poem by Valerie Worth. I bought Valerie's book, 'All The Small Poems And Fourteen More,' while living and working in New York, some time back. It remains a personal favourite.  I love the way the poet shines a special light on everyday objects, transforming them into something unique and worthy of attention. Her close observations elevate her poems into the special category.  Each poem in the collection celebrates earthly wonders. From eggs to garbage, from potatoes to pockets, each object is given special attention in the form of short poems employing keen observations.  Valerie Worth demonstrates through her poems she totally understands the saying-'ideas exist in things.'  The poem I have chosen to share with you (one of my personal favourites) is titled, 'Safety Pin'. S af

Opposite Poems

O pp o s ite P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. Not e