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Saturday, October 12, 2013

The Sunday Mini-challenge: Loop poetry

Hello to all the pond dwellers and visitors ~ For this weekend challenge, we are going to try our hand in writing loop poetry.

 Street Art, Ottawa City by Grace

This poetry form was created by Hellon. There are no restrictions on the number of stanzas nor on the syllable count for each line. In each stanza, the last word of the first line becomes the first word of line two, last word of line 2 becomes the first word of line 3, last word of line 3 becomes the first word of line 4. This is followed for each stanza. The rhyme scheme is abcb.

Example (the rhyme scheme is in bold print):  

How I See You

Eyes that don't see
see the things that you do
do you wish me to describe
describe how I see you.

Skin so delicate
delicate as a rose
rose that will blossom
blossom as it grows.

Hair moving gently
gently you tease
tease...softly whispering
whispering summer breeze. 
 
(In part) Copyright © 2009 Hellon
 
Variations:

1. Written in stanzas or one long stanza, there is no rhyming.   However the last word, first word scheme is maintained.

Example:

Bloody eyes

Bloody eyes..watching..waiting
waiting in gloomy shadows
shadows of night
night so...still
still they watch, still they wait
wait for you
you..the next victim
victim of evil
evil that lurks
lurks in silence
silence then...screams
screams...then silence
silence of night
night of shadows
shadows of gloom..waiting
waiting...watching
watching..bloody eyes

Copyright © 2009 Hellon

2. Couplets mixed with 4 line stanzas.   The last word, first word scheme is maintained in the stanzas. It can also be used in the couplets. Rhyme scheme is ab, cc, defg, hh, ii, jklm, nn, oo.

Example (Only the stanzas below follow the last word, first word scheme) :


Picture Frame

Looking out at the world from a picture frame
smile frozen in time.. skin of porcelain

Eyes of green meadows on a warm summer's day
auburn hair falling cascades to disarray...

disarray like her life
life changed this young girl
girl with a past
past life..secrets hidden

around the frame wallpaper is faded
just like her life, over...jaded

smile frozen in time behind emerald eyes
there in a past entwined with lies

Lies...there were many
many secrets..haunting
haunting her now
now re-living the nightmare

Fear of a night she would rather forget
so long ago still she lives with regret

picture frame now smashed, shattered glass on the floor
just like her life, dreams are no more.

Copyright © 2009 Hellon 


For Sunday's challenge, please write a new loop poem using any of the variations above.  

The Sunday Challenge is posted on Saturday at noon CST to allow extra time for the form challenge. We stipulate that only poems written for this challenge may be added to the Mr Linky.  Management reserves the right to remove unrelated links, but invites you to share a poem of your choice on Open Link Monday.

I look forward to reading your words ~  Grace (aka Heaven)


24 comments:

  1. Oh, Grace I love this form! What a great challenge~ :D

    Happy weekend Toads

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  2. Thank you Ella ~ This is fun to do and perfect for our long weekend ~ Happy weekend to you and everyone ~

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  3. Ella thank you so much for a wonderful challenge. I have been lazy about writing since few days..this was too tempting to not write. I loved writing on it :)

    And Happy Weekend to all :)

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  4. Juzta mom, no worries ~

    Kathryn, its a bit tricky ~ I think you have to choose words that have more than one meaning ~

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  5. oh boy this one could be a challenge..I do things off the cuff... I will see if I can do this...from failure comes learning.... :)

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  6. this was a bit out of my comfort zone... I don't usually stick to a structure.. but I gave it a try... :)

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  7. Lovely form, Grace. Looking forward to trying it as soon as I decide which example I like best. Unlike Robert Bourne, I love form challenges. They give me a frame in which to work.
    K

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  8. Robert, hope it was fun though, smiles ~

    Kay, looking forward to yours ~

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  9. Wonderful! Bit difficukt as far as I am concerned!

    Thanks and wishes!

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  10. I'll be back to read and to rewrite. I really like looping, maybe as much as others like knitting. My content is weak today, but I will put more real toads in before I'm finished with it.

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  11. This is being an interesting challenge.I actually wonder how come a loop poetry in the master brains,really amazing idea.It's peculiar sort of rhyming is also lovely.Thank you for bringing such a challenge.I have made a try, don't know if it is up to the rule.Happy weekend :)

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  12. Thank you, Grace!! I love loop-y poems! ;)

    I'll be back to read...I have kind of a big morning, speaking/reading a work of mine in public...wish me luck!

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  13. Good morning everyone ~

    I will be around to read yours in a bit ~

    Vandana ~ You have linked up an old poem so I will be removing it ~ Can you please write a new one as the challenge calls for a new one ~ Thanks dear ~

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  14. Those examples are just chock full of tired phrasing. Bad poetry written in form is still bad poetry.

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  15. I struggled, but was reminded of my daughter and her band! I like how it came out...thank you Grace!

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  16. Thank you for this challenge! I am off to the horse barn, but will settle in later tonight and visit everyone.

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  17. Thanks so much for the lovely responses ~ I will be checking tomorrow for anyone still trying out this form ~

    Have a good night everyone ~

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  18. Loredana ~ Thank you for the lovely response ~ Simple but not easy to do, I found out too ~ I happy with the responses of everyone ~ We are not always successful with the first attempt but with practice we can certainly become more & more skillful with the form ~

    Happy week ahead ~

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  19. In so late. but will try this nevertheless! have been little busy. thank you Grace!

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  20. I just got mine finished (this is tough!). I linked to Open Link.

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  21. Karin, the poem you linked here takes us to an older post. If you wrote a looping poem, please link up again.

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Much time and effort went into this post! Your feedback is appreciated.