Le Voyage Magnifique

           

           

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The Philippine Islands is a Southeast Asia country located in the Western Pacific Ocean. Filipino poetry dates back before colonization and has been an intregal part of the Filipino culture. The earliest Tagalog epics are written in verse.

Master poets show us how
to push the poetic plow
and compose poems in the now.
Please all stand and take a bow.
~~ Tinker

The Tanaga is a Filipino verse form that was originally composed in Tagolog, which to my ear is one of the more musical of languages. (Kumusta ka? Mabuti salam at) The form dates back to the 16th century and has an oral tradition. This old folk form had a resurgence of popularity in the 20th century, died down and resurfaced again mid 21st century. The poems are not titled. Originally it was a compact poem, contained in 4 lines, each is emotionally charged and asks a question that begs an answer.

The elements of the Tanaga are:
1. a tetrastich, a poem in 4 lines. However, modern poets have modified it to longer works in a stanzaic pattern of any number of quatrains.
2. syllabic, 7-7-7-7 syllables per line.
3. rhymed, originally monorhymed aaaa. Modern Tanagas also use aaaa bbbb etc., or aabb ccdd etc or abba cddc etc or any combination rhyme can be used.
4. asks a question seeking an answer
5. composed with the liberal use of metaphor
6. untitled. But in this poetic world we kind of have to title our poems for identity's sake.

I'd Like to Think, It Knew

Saintly sentinel stands guard,
oversees nature's regard.
St. Francis in my front yard,
stone statue weathered and scarred.

The welcome, silent and stead,
his story of care is widespread.
A brown bird lights on his head
to peruse the garden bed.

Do you think it may have known
what the ancient priest had sown?
In Christ he was never alone,
love for all life he'd intone.
~~Judi Van Gorder

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An Acrostic poem uses the first letter of each line to spell a word or phrase down the left margin, as described and demonstrated in the following link: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-an-acrostic-poem#3-examples-of... .

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Form: Star Sevlin
Star Sevlin is an invented shape poem that is supposed to form a star when centered on the page.
It is found in Pathways for the Poet by Viola Berg 1977 and was created by Lilliann Mathilda Svenson.

Number of Lines: 7, a heptastich

Rules: 4/6/8/6/8/6/4 syllables per line and centered on the page.
Note the rhyme scheme below.

Meter: iambic syllabic

Rhyme Scheme: abbcaca

Choices for the poets to make this week: Your poem can be about any topic.


Example:

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I've fallen in love with far away exotic lands,

                                        images of elephants and slow dark eyes 

beckon me to write a romantic Hindi Doha,

                                        join me in invoking soft exotic sighs. 

                                                           ~~Tinker





Hindi poetry is a descendant of Sanskrit and is found primarily in the North, West and Central India. Hindi is the official language of India. The region is known for its romantic poetry.



The Doha   is a Hindi stanzaic form employing a rhyming couplet with long syllabic lines. The Doha is also used in Urdu verse. This form often steps away from the Hindi tradition of romantic verse and can be written as didactic verse or used in longer narrative verse. 

The elements of the Doha are: 

         1. stanzaic, written in any number of couplets. 

         2. syllabic, each line is made up of 24 syllables and is paused by caesura at the end of the 13th syllable, making the line two phrases of 13 and 11 syllables. The couplet can be arranged as a quatrain breaking the line at the caesura. 

         3. rhymed, aa bb cc 

         4. commonly used for proverbs and/or for longer narratives or didactic poetry. 



Vanquished in the Night 

The starless night drops down into the silent forest,

                   small creatures scurry to secure safe haven.

Peerless predators with eyes accustom to the dark,

                    stalking weaker prey with guile until craven.

                                                 ~~Judi Van Gorder 

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distanced from touching others
fingertips tap keyboard
emotions framed in five line gogyohka
no rhyme - no syllable count
styled to stroke the mind
~~Tinker


Gogyohka (五行歌), Japanese meaning five line poem, is just that, a five line poem without any other structural requirements. The form is basically a tanka without the maximum 31 syllable count. Wikipedia suggests the form has been used by Japanese poets as far back as 1910 but was not named until 1983 by poet Enta Kusakabe, another dates it 1957. The original poems were untitled like haiku and tanka however I am seeing titles on poems being called gogyohka.
The elements of the gogyohka are:
1. a pentastich, a five line poem.
2. meter at the discretion of the poet
3. composed of five phrases, one per line (phrases should be complete but related to the others and create a total picture)
4. unrhymed
5. untitled
6. composed with any subject or theme

Gogyohka #1

lights go low
the rise and fall of violins surrounds us
on the big screen the wild fields of Ireland
blades of green populated by delicate lavender blooms
a child’s voice sings
~~ Judi Van Gorder

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