Skip to main content

Tricube Poetry

This week I am revisiting Tricube poetry

Tricube poems enlist the notion of  'Three.'  

These poems were initially created by American author and poet, Phillip Larrea. Tricube poems are a relatively new poetry form.

3 syllables per line

3 lines per stanza

3 stanzas per poem

So, we are talking cubes in mathematical terms (to the third power). No rules for rhymes, meter. Just three, three, and three. It is as simple as that!

Hope this stirs my fellow poets into action. Feel three to give it a try...












Last Night's Wind

The wind howled

All night long

The beast blew


It rattled

Windows, walls

Our world shook


This morning

leaves abound

On the ground.

Alan j Wright

 It is once more, Poetry Friday! This time our host is Jone Rush-MacCulloch. Jone is focusing on some new publications and announcing some poetic celebrations. To find out more visit Jone and gain access to loads more of the poetic happenings around the world of poetry.

Labels:

Comments

  1. Janice Scully29 October 2022 at 04:51

    Now aren't you in springtime where you are? I read this as a fall poem, but this could, I think, happen in spring: the wind and leaves blowing and falling. I have wanted to try this form for a while. The beast blew, then everything rattled and then they fell. Each stanza moves forward.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright29 October 2022 at 14:00

      Supposedly we are in spring, Janice. You are correct. However, the prevailing weather has been closer to winter than a traditional springtime. Record rains and extensive flooding along Asutralia's east coast. Quite devastating. The stanzas are linked and thnk you for noticing how the poem moves forward. The fact the wind has ripped new leaves from the trees demonstrates it power at present. Hope you venture into Tricube territory soon.

      Delete
  2. Linda B29 October 2022 at 05:51

    I am about to rake some leaves that the 'winter' beast blew down yesterday, Alan. Will remember your poem now, then in our spring when, yes, happens here, too. That Tricube form seems to help blast the message. Nice to read aloud, too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright29 October 2022 at 14:02

      Thanks Linda. It does present as a simple, yet effective poetry form. Good luck with your sweeping. We thought we were past that for a while, but alas, the wind had other intentions.

      Delete
  3. Linda29 October 2022 at 07:01

    This form is new to me! Your wonderful poem has inspired me to try writing a tricube!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright29 October 2022 at 14:03

      Go for it Linda! Have fun in Tricube territory...

      Delete
  4. Tricia29 October 2022 at 12:36

    Thank you for introducing a form that is new to me. I like highly restrictive forms and this one will be a challenge. Your poems does a nice job describing our current season.
    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright29 October 2022 at 14:06

      You are most welcome Tricia. The challenge was quite within acceptable limits, so I beleive you will enjoy the writing experience it throws your way. Good luck with Tricube treats.

      Delete
  5. laurasalas29 October 2022 at 23:46

    Oooh, I like this. I've heard of this form before, but don't think I've ever written one. I love how your poem turns between that second and third stanza. So much imagery, too, in so few syllables!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright30 October 2022 at 12:51

      So glad you like this form, Laura and thanks for your response. Tricubes possess a challenge that is most enjoyable.

      Delete
  6. Patricia Franz30 October 2022 at 01:56

    Alan, I think I first learned of the tricube earlier this year -- I enjoyed it then, and now. Especially love the wind as beast, howling, rattling, and leaving leaves (no pun intended) in its wake. I have to say, I was surprised by the green -- green leaves scattered on the path. It added to the element of beast - how often do healthy green leaves get blown from the vine? Such power, the beast. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright30 October 2022 at 12:54

      The shredded greenery was a shock and disappointment to us as well, Patricia. Those newly emerged leaves deserved much more time than the wind afforded them. Thank you for your remarks.

      Delete
  7. Carol Varsalona31 October 2022 at 10:25

    Alan, your tricube could be a meterologist's thoughts for the news. I can hear our local meterologist saying this. If you have a tricube or other formatted poem for autumn, would you be interested in sending it to me for my Finday Fall 2022 Padlet Gallery at https://padlet.com/cvarsalona/awz68cfim4nac1rp? It does not have to be from Fall 2022.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jone31 October 2022 at 11:43

    I love the Tricube form. And this poem totally fits our autumn weather in the PNW.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mary Lee31 October 2022 at 23:33

    I haven't tried the tricube form yet, but I'm putting that on my list of daily challenges for the week!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Inspired by Images and Objects

There are many ways pictures and photographs can be conscripted to support the writing of poetry. Allow me to share a few ideas with you: Old photographs are a great source of inspiration. Cynthia Rylant explored this idea with great success in her book 'Something Permanent' where she employed the Depression era photographs of Walker Evans to add a new voice to the starkness to the lives of people experienced under extreme circumstances. I have used this strategy to spark many individual poems. In ' I Bet There's No Broccoli On The Moon,' I used a photo I had taken in 2004 while living in New York to inspire a poem. The poem was based on a story related by a friend who grew up in New York.  I regularly combined poetry and pictures in my writer's notebook, drawing on inspiration from the photograph and my personal memories. We can also utilize existing cartoons and illustrations to create ekphrastic poems. I frequently use the illustrations of Jim Pavlidis to co...
20 comments
Read more

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. N...
26 comments
Read more

Powerful Poetry, 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston

  This week, Poetry Friday is hosted by Janice Scully  @ Salt City Verse where Janice shares some original words and offers us a taste of Thomas Carlyle to ponder. I encourage you to join a host of poets from all around the globe and visit Janice's page... Almost two years to the day, I wrote a post featuring the poem 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston. The poem was included in Brian's first book of poetry, 'You Took The Last Bus Home.' A very powerful Reverso poem and technically brilliant.  A Reverso poem can be read from top to bottom or bottom to top. It will often express opposite opinions depending on which way you read it. Such poems really make us think. A Reverso poem is like a picture turned upside down, a frowning face upended to reveal a smiling one. The poem read in reverse, contradicts itself with an opposing message. In 'Refugee' Brian Bilston focuses on a societal issue that tends to polarize feelings and the opposing views are clearly in eviden...
14 comments
Read more