UNCOMMON POETIC FORMS
Love Emerges from Loneliness’ Shadow
A somonka of star-crossed writers
I have embarked on a trying an expand-my-audience-strategy of publishing my poems in worlds in the MediumVerse on which I have yet to step foot. The POM long ago accepted me as a writer and it’s high time that I submit thereto.
Just the other day I submitted my first poems to Literary Impulse, a dodoitsu and an American cinquain, forms brought to our attention by MDSHall, which I used in response to this prompt among 50 to self-reflect from Diana C. of Know Thyself, Heal Thyself:
How can you befriend solitude and learn to self soothe through moments of loneliness?
My poems evoked my nonconformist and spiritual view of loneliness — that while I may not have human companionship, I have constant conscious contact with the souls of my dearly departed eternal soul partner, grandfather, friends, and, God, and thus do not feel lonely at all.
Dodoitsu
Never alone with my thoughts Awakened connections strong My thoughts are not mine alone Sitara, friends — God
American Cinquain
Lonely? Soul never aches Passionate heat surrounds Bathing me in hot tub of love Heaven
For the full explainers, you may hit this link.
Somsubhra Banerjee brought several other uncommon forms of poetry to my attention.
Tonight I felt inspired to answer another one of Diana’s prompts, and thought I might try a mondo, by transforming a prompt into the first stanza and thus the second stanza answering the prompt.
Mondo poems are often very brief collaborative affairs that present a question and answer in the style of trying to glean meaning from nature. Mondos can be as short as a one-liner or as long as two 5–7–7 syllable stanzas (the first stanza presenting the question; the second the answer)
But then I read William J Spirdione’s beautiful somonka
The somonka is basically two tankas(5–7–5–7–7 syllable format) written as two love letters to each other (one tanka per love letter). This form usually demands two authors, but it is possible to have a poet take on two personas
and felt inspired to follow suit with a sequel to the poems from the other day.
Much has changed in the 48 hours since I published Of Loneliness. I need to take us back for a moment to the Greg of many years ago, a dependent personality, constantly in search of connection, of love, and always thinking he had found his soulmate. Two marriages and a toxic relationship later, I finally resolved to be alone until I could be at peace with being alone, and as soon as I found that peace 13 months later, the universe presented me with another relationship, this time with the sister of a friend from college, who had been in the back of my mind for 25 years. Of course, it did not work out, but it lasted 16 months, I grew much during and from that karmic soulmate relationship, and we are still friends.
Life runs in patterns but we are not fated to the same end results. Forty-eight hours ago I published my poems on being 100% cool with being “alone” and a few hours later bolts of lightning struck simultaneously in New Hampshire and Ohio. I read a fabulous story by an endearingly engaging and intelligent spiritual writer new to Medium, we meaningfully engaged therein, then via email, then Slack, spoke on the phone for hours, and, well, it seemed perfect to capture the last 48 hours with a somonka.
Alone with my thoughts Spirits holding me aloft Accepted my fate Suddenly your light emerged Filling tabernacle void
Share and share alike Your words captivate my eyes Lubricate my loins Embrace each other's passion Elevate expand our souls
Tagging a few of my many MediumVerse friends and/or colleagues for participation in the various referenced challenges: Claire Kelly Stuart Englander Holly Kellums Agnes Laurens Dr Mehmet Yildiz Libby Shively McAvoy Melanie J. Joseph Lieungh Esther George Jean Carfantan Carolyn F. Chryst, Ph.D. Rita Duponty Josh Balerite Tree Langdon Spyder Anthi Psomiadou James G Brennan Dr. Fatima Imam Dr. Preeti Singh Dr. Amy Pierovich
In Rama I create, with spirits winding my sails,
