Welcome to my April 2025 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with pictures), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, Z is for …Zappai

“Zappai poems are like haiku, but not. Or maybe more appropriately, they’re like senryu, but not (or maybe they are). This poetic form definition may sound kind of wishy-washy, but zappai are poems that have a 5-7-5 syllable pattern that do not contain the seasonal reference expected of haiku. In other words, zappai are all those haiku people write that haiku poets recognize as not being haiku. Again, senryu could fit this definition as well, but senryu also can have a looseness with the syllables, much like haiku, so that 17 syllables are not mandatory. Zappai should still be poetic, but they’re 5-7-5 poems that don’t include the seasonal reference. Final answer. I think.”

Challenge Completed!

As spring blossoms fall
so fall 30 April poems
and now I can rest

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Thanks for visiting my 2025 A to Z Challenge – Letter Z.

Welcome to my April 2025 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with pictures), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, Y is for …Yadu.

“The ya-du is a Burmese poetic form. Here are the guidelines:

• Quintains (or five-line stanzas).
• Four syllables in the first four lines.
• The final line has either five, seven, nine, or 11 syllables.
• The fourth syllable of the first line rhymes with the third syllable of the second line and the second syllable of the third line.
• The fourth syllable of the third line rhymes with the third syllable of the fourth line and the second syllable of the fifth line.
• The fourth syllable of the fourth line rhymes with the final syllable of the final line.
• Subject usually deals with seasons.
• Most ya-du are written in three or fewer stanzas.“

I think I got this right, but I have to say I am glad there is only one letter left. It’s been a challenging month!

All Year Round (no seasons here)

Sun beams on floors
sparkling more dust
before I clean:
swiffer queen that
can preen around the kitty cats.

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Thanks for visiting my 2025 A to Z Challenge – Letter Y.

Welcome to my April 2025 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with pictures), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, X is for …Badger’s HeXastich,

“Badger’s Hexastich is: a poem in 6 lines.syllabic, 2/4/6/6/4/2. unrhymed, optional rising and falling end-words.“

All I Got Today

Free fall:
cascading blooms
drifting like snow onto
streets, stickers of petals
plastered on car
windows.

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Thanks for visiting my 2025 A to Z Challenge – Letter X.

Welcome to my April 2025 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with pictures), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, W is for …Waka

“The waka is a Japanese 5-line poem (or stanza) that is often considered synonymous with the tanka, because both have a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable per line structure. However, the waka groups its lines together in a particular way. The first 2 lines should make up one piece, the next 2 lines should make the next, and then, the final line can stand on its own–or as part of the second group. It’s possible to end stop after line 2, 4, and 5. But other forms of punctuation can do the trick as well.”

Despite It All

Camellias die
as red striped tulips spring forth.

Cycles continue
despite ife’s twists and trials.

We still wake, open to sun.

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Thanks for visiting my 2025 A to Z Challenge – Letter W.

Welcome to my April 2025 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with pictures), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, V is for …Virelai

“The virelai is a French poetic form with alternating rhymes and line lengths. Here are basic guidelines:

• nine lines per stanza
• lines one, two, four, five, seven, and eight have five syllables
• lines three, six, and nine have two syllables
• the five-syllable lines rhyme with each other and the two-syllable lines rhyme with each other to make the following rhyme patter: aabaabaab
• the end rhyme for the short lines continues on in the following stanza
• the final stanza’s short-line end rhyme should be the same as the long-line end rhyme in the opening stanza (to complete the end-rhyme circle)

Waiting Room

We sit in black chairs
silent. And we stare
at those
phones sending us where
madmen rant and dare
to pose
like birds strutting there,
ravens of nightmares
and woes.

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Thanks for visiting my 2025 A to Z Challenge – Letter V.

Welcome to my April 2025 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with pictures), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, U is for …Uni Sunt.

Ok, there are very few (i.e., no) poetry types beginning with U except for this one that I could find. “A number of medieval European poems begin with this Latin phrase meaning “Where are they?” By posing a series of questions about the fate of the strong, beautiful, or virtuous, these poems meditate on the transitory nature of life and the inevitability of death. The phrase can now refer to any poetry that treats these themes. One of the most famous ubi sunt poems is “Ballade des dames du temps jadis” (“Ballad of the Ladies of Times Past”) by medieval French poet François Villon, with its refrain “Where are the snows of yesteryear?”

This is my interpretation of this kind of poem, very loose, but given layoff notices at work began to come out yesterday, I think I’m allowed a little latitude…

The World is Too Much

Where can we go, with
troubles all around,
swarming like crowds
at the next blockbuster movie,
growing like appetites longing
for an extra-large pizza?

Let me bury myself
under extra-large hoodies
on my comfy chair,
layered with kitty purrs
until it’s safe to emerge.

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Thanks for visiting my 2025 A to Z Challenge – Letter U.

Welcome to my April 2025 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with pictures), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, T is for …Triversen

“Triversen is a form of poetry created by physician, poet, novelist, essayist, and playwright William Carlos Williams. This 18-line poetic form is created from six single stanzas/sentences where each stanza/sentence is broken into three lines.

Rules

1. Pick a subject, any subject.
2. Write a single stanza that is equal to one sentence and based on a statement or observation.
3. Break the sentence/stanza into three lines (each line is a separate phrase in the sentence). Each line should build on the next to create a mood or story.
4. There is a variable foot of 2-4 beats per line.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 until you have 6 sentences/stanzas.
6. Finish with 6 stanzas of three lines each. The poem should add up to 18 lines.“

She stares at the screen,
finger hovering over keyboard,
mind blank.

A shock of an idea
like a tap on her shoulder,
makes her jump.

She holds out her hand
to grasp but it flutters
through her fingers.

She watches
as it scatters,
burrows back into the earth.

Closing her eyes, she waits,
knowing silence
will beckon the next.

And there it hovers
just out of reach until it lands,
gently, on her knee.

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Thanks for visiting my 2025 A to Z Challenge – Letter T.

Welcome to my April 2025 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with pictures), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, S is for …Shadorma

“Shadorma is a poetic form consisting of a sestet (six-line stanza). Each stanza of this form has a syllable count of three syllables in the first line, five syllables in the second line, three syllables in the third and fourth lines, seven syllables in the fifth line, and five syllables in the sixth line (3/5/3/3/7/5) for a total of 26 syllables. This form may have one or an unlimited mnumber of stanzas as long as each follows the meter.“

Trust Me

Cat lies down
rolls to show belly.
Demands pats
until done,
with claws outstretched to tell me
it’s time to stop now

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Thanks for visiting my 2025 A to Z Challenge – Letter S.

Welcome to my April 2025 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with pictures), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, R is for …Roundel.

“A Roundel poem is a very short poem that consists of 3 stanzas with 3 lines in each stanza. The Roundel poem uses alternate rhyming where its first words are repeated following the 1st and 3rd stanzas. The form is a version of the French Rondeau and was developed by Algernon Charles Swinburne. It is a form of English language poetry where its rhythmic scaling is abar, bab, abar, where r is referred to as the refrain. The Roundel is composed of 9 lines with each line having the same amount of syllables.”

Oceans of Spring

Sun glints off waves, oceans of spring;
breezes bring skimming kite sails
skipping as surf sing
while sun glints off waves.

Tourists walk the safety rails,
to dogs on leashes cling
tight to keep from trails.

Seagulls cry, as a child flings
scraps of bread, her arms flail,
points to ships crossing,
As sun glints off waves.

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Thanks for visiting my 2025 A to Z Challenge – Letter R.

Welcome to my April 2025 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with pictures), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, Q is for …Questionku

“A questionku is a type of short form poem that creates a question for the reader to ponder. The rather new style of writing was created by poet Richard Lamoureux. The questionku style is similar to a haiku or senryu in the respect that there are a certain amount of lines and number of syllables on those lines that must be used.

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Thanks for visiting my 2025 A to Z Challenge – Letter Q.