Crafting Poetry One Syllable at a Time
Posted on July 22, 2020 by Colleen M. Chesebro
I’ve wanted to try this new poetry challenge offered by Auroras & Blossoms poetry journal in the post below. It’s the “Dawn,” Prompt, created by Cendrine & David.
Here is the link to the words in the song: https://genius.com/Leigh-nash-nervous-in-the-light-of-dawn-lyrics which serve as the inspiration for the poetry you write.
Auroras & Blossoms says:
“The Kindku is an invitation to promote kindness, positivity and inspiration through poetry. As the last two letters of the name indicate, it is based on Japanese poetry forms like the haiku and tanka.”
The Kindku is a short poem of seven lines and 43 syllables. The syllable pattern is 7 / 5 / 7 / 5 / 7 / 5 / 7 or 5 / 7 / 5 / 7 / 5 / 7 / 5.
The Kindku must include seven words that are taken from one specific source — a poem, a book, a newspaper article, etc. In the case of a book or long piece of writing, those words must come from the same page.
Words must be used in the order they were found. Their placement also depends on the line:
Kindku poems can have titles and punctuation. No matter the topic covered, they must sport a positive tone.
Kindku poets are encouraged to credit and link to the inspirations behind their pieces.
First, I listened to the song and then picked the seven words: “…storm grey clouds hovering above silence all…” (Nervous in the Light of Dawn lyrics)
Next I created a chart using the 7 / 5 / 7 / 5 / 7 / 5 / 7 syllable count:
I use the syllable counter at How Many Syllables.com to compose my KindKu.
storm erupts with feral song
dawn shifts into grey
clouds swell like waves in the sea
pale brume hovering
above the fray, the rainbow—
redeems the silence
all forgiven in a day
©2020 Colleen M. Chesebro
What do you think? By participating in the challenge, they could select your poem to appear in the Aurora & Blossoms Journal. Click HERE for the prompt post.
This was a fun challenge! It really got my creative juices flowing. Try it!
Category: Authors Supporting AuthorsTags: #kindku, "Nervous in the Light of Dawn", Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal, Colleen's Syllabic Poetry, dawn, Leigh Nash song, Syllabic Poetry
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“A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone’s knowledge of himself and the world around him.”
—Dylan Thomas
Click: What is a Rhyme Scheme?
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Colleen M. Chesebro is an American Poet who loves crafting paranormal fantasy and magical realism, cross-genre flash fiction, syllabic poetry, and creative nonfiction. Colleen sponsors a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called Tanka Tuesday, on wordcraftpoetry.com where participants learn how to write traditional and current forms of haiku, senryu, haiga, tanka, gogyohka, tanka prose, renga, solo-renga, haibun, cinquain, Etheree, nonet, and shadorma poetry. Colleen's syllabic poetry has appeared in the Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal, and in “Hedgerow, a journal of small poems.” She’s won numerous awards from participating in the Carrot Ranch Rodeo, a yearly flash fiction contest sponsored by carrotranch.com. In 2020, she won first place in the Carrot Ranch Folk Tale or Fable category, with her story called “Why Wolf Howls at the Moon.” Colleen is a Sister of the Fey, where she pursues a pagan path through her writing. When she is not writing, she is reading. She also loves gardening and crocheting old-fashioned doilies into works of art.
Wow!! You did really well with that challenge. The poem flows so naturally, not “form-forced” at all. Brava!
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Thanks! It was a lot of fun and really creative. The song is lovely. It’s found poetry! What a fun challenge. ❤️
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You’re welcome, Colleen!
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Like a puzzle. Good job! (K)
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Great fun, Kerfe. Very creative form. I enjoyed this. 🥰
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This is beautifully done Colleen.
My that form seems difficult😰
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Thank you. Actually, once you read through the instructions, and pick your seven words, and you can tell what word goes where, it’s just a matter of it making sense. The song is lovely as well. Publication in their journal is a nice thing to add to your poetic resume. It validates your writing. I think you should give it a try. One poem entered is free. If you add more poems, etc. you pay a reader’s fee. Many journals do this. They let you know if you’ve been selected for the journal. I’m happy to add that this poem was selected for publication. I know you can do this! ❤
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Thank you Colleen, I’ll give it a try
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Excellent. Make sure and link to like the directions say so they can find you, Jude. ❤
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Oh, I am impressed. Well done Colleen, what a difficult form. ❤ x
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Thanks. It was fun, Marje. Once I figured out what to do, it went smoothly. It really makes you think! ❤
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Hey Marje, you should give it a try. It’s challenging at the beginning, but not with practice. 😉
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I agree. It gets the creative juices flowing!
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Hi Cendrine, yes it would be a challenge! Thank you
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You are skilled with words, Colleen. Your kindku reads naturally. ❤
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Thanks for the lovely compliment, Jane. This really was a lot of fun. ❤
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I like what you did. Rainbows have always held a special place in humanity.
Interestingly enough no to people see the same rainbow the same way due to the angle each individual sees it 🙂
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I’ve heard that Jules. It has to do with the refraction of light and moisture. This was great fun! Rainbows 🌈 are one of my favorites. ❤️
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How fascinating to learn about this new kind of poetry, Colleen! And you knocked it out of the ballpark with yours!
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Awww, thanks, Jan. I had fun working this out! 😍
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How fun! Thanks for sharing, Colleen. 😃
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Thanks, Fran. I really did enjoy working with the form. Very creative and got me to thinking about all the great syllabic poetry forms out there. ❤
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Which I enjoy the the many syllabic poetry forms because it inspires to spread our wings.
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I agree. I like these challenges. They’re brain food. ❤️
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Hello Colleen!
David and I are super excited that you tried our poetry form. You did a phenomenal job!
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Thanks so much. I liked this form. I’ll do it again. ❤
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Love this new form, and how precisely you explained it. Definitely will try when I next hop on ❤
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Follow their instructions and you could get published in their anthology which would be a feather in your poetic resume. ❤️
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❤ I'd love to , might be tight ❤
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I think you have another week. Check the rules. ❤️
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Wow, you aced that new form! I’m bookmarking this. I may try this one.
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It’s a fun one. I like the idea of using a song for inspiration. Let me know if you do it. 😍
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I will do that. ❤️
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Creative.
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Thanks, Ruth. I really enjoyed working this all out. It’s like a puzzle. ❤
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Sure is.
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Inspiring! So many people have trouble with forgiveness (“All forgiven in a day”), and yet the earth looks at us with forgiveness constantly. It’s a wonderful thing.
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The rainbow exemplifies new beginnings. I love rainbow lore and use it often in my writing.
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