Short Poems

by Megan Coker

Writing poetry is one of the elemental and absolutely lovely practices in the universe. To touch the human soul with a bit of scribbling on a piece of paper. To transfer a bit of energy from one person to the next through centuries, or through a second often fortifies the human race. From every race, tribe, and tongue poetry is written in different forms and transferred throughout the world from your pen to your patronage. Today we will be talking about short poems, in all their forms.

Japan has a rich heritage of poetry, evoking several forms such as the tanka and the haiku. Many people are familiar with the traditional haiku which is written in a a 5-7-5 syllabic form. Haiku is generally written by setting one image written in the first two lines with another contrasting image in the last line. This three line poem is easily done by even the most beginner poet. The Tanka is a five line poem which is 31 syllables in length. Tankas were written in Japan as a finale to an experience: no occasion was complete without one. Mostly written in a straight line in Japanese, the tanka is done in a 5-7-5-7-7 line form. Anyone can write a tanka or haiku with practice and patience.

The traditional short poem in England is the sonnet, a 14-line poem, which is well done by the Shakespeare and other poets around his time. Writing a sonnet is not difficult, but the rhyme scheme sometimes throws the new poet off, giving it a medium level of difficulty. The scheme is composed of a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, and g-g. The last two lines are called a couplet and they conclude or climax the work in some way. The sonnet is traditionally used to express love or discuss philosophy, but today you can write a sonnet about any subject.

Looking for a poem to be fun and different? Limericks are from Europe in origin, named from the town of Limerick in Ireland. They were mostly created be dirty or bawdy jokes at certain public figures or just for fun. Nowadays, one writes a limerick using an a-a-b-b-a rhyme scheme. The punchline is found at the end of the poem with the rest of the poem leading up to the point. These poems are not often taken seriously in literary circles, but for a valentine, they'll do.

Another, not well-known in the English circles, poem form is the Ghazal, a type which comes from Persia, Pakistan, and India. The difficult part is choosing a radif: this phrase or word is spoken at the end of each line, so is crucial to your poem. After choosing a radif, pick a quaafiya. A quaafiya determines the rhyme you will use at the end of each verse before the radif. This ancient type of poetry is in the difficult range of poems, but if you are persistent your hard work will pay off.

Say you don't want to do anything with rhyme or structure, try a short free verse poem. An famous example is Carl Sandburg's, "Fog,"

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

These poems can rhyme or not but must have some sort of rhythm to them, some phrase or word or idea which binds them together. Free verse is one of the easiest forms of poetry, because of its lack of traditional structure.

When writing, and not for epic audiences, there are many choices: from India to Japan to European circles there are many styles and types of poetry. You can stretch your imagination with a haiku or a tanka, become more formal with a sonnet, loosen up with a limerick or take a trip to the middle east with a Ghazal. Write your new short poem and you'll find out where your poetry will take you.

To learn more about haiku, try this article.

Megan Coker is a happy writer, who enjoys writing poems, short stories and internet web articles. Right now she is attending the University of Texas at Arlington and pursuing her English degree. You will find her often drinking whatever blend is in the pot, talking to her feisty cat and baking cookies on the weekends.