A DIZAIN
Playing with Poetry
And starting a war
I’m trying out a new poetry form inspired by poet jenine bsharah baines with a rhyme scheme to which one must conform. They’re new to me—these ten-line dizains— starting a war ’tween my left and right brains. My right brain’s creative—colors and shapes— like watching movies on videotapes. My left brain is logic—patterns, and words— rigidity, rules. There’s just no escape! So sorry, my friends. Dizains are for nerds.
Well, that was fun! Thanks, jenine, for the prompt and the inspiration. It’s fun to try new things!
And for you readers who managed to plod through to this point, a dizain is a poetry form I had not known until today. I’m a huge fan of writing “puzzle” poems, including villanelles, sonnets, and (ugh) limericks, where the rules are rigid and a spreadsheet is required in order to keep track of the syllable count and the rhyming words.
Not everyone is wired the same way, but my brain comprises two completely different “personalities,” each with its own set of skills, preferences, and attitudes.
My right brain translates images into feelings, ideas, loose sets of formless constructs—an oxymoron, I know—and is completely silent. No words, no talking, no timelines, no calendars, nothing but image and emotion.
My left brain thinks he’s the boss—yes, he’s male—and is constantly trying to mansplain the world to my right brain, who can’t even hear him. He’s always frustrated that she cannot understand the world the way he does. Sorta like being in a relationship.
So, at night, while I’m struggling to get some peaceful sleep, the battle between the brains escalates. My left brain can “read” my right brain, but not the other way around. So the “little man in my head who gives me a report each morning” believes it’s his job to sort out all the mess in the right brain and translate it into something that allows me to function in the “real” world.
For it to be possible to write a poem in a villanelle or dizain or any other rigid format means that both sides of my brain have to cooperate. So, Ms. Right unlocks the gate and Mr. Left peers inside and does the best he can to make sense of the chaos in there.
Join us in the fun! If you take a stab at a dizain, let me know! Just think of it as a game of throwing a dictionary of words on the desk and sorting them into syllables, lines, rhymes, almost like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. It’s a blast.
I stole the following rules and rhyme scheme from jenine’s wonderful piece below to help you get started. A glass of wine won’t help, but it won’t hurt either. 😎
And if you’re curious about that little man in my head, allow me to introduce you to him:
My thanks to Science Duuude and WotWU for giving us all a warm and safe place to play. ❤
