Hello everyone. A few weeks back Brian mentioned that it would be interesting to write a poem from two different points of view. I remembered the poem form I invented for my Meeting The Bar challenge to have us poets come up with our own original poems. I invented what I called “falling diamonds.
After I wrote mine I remembered that the verses also looked like diamond shaped window panes. It turns out those casement windows with diamond panes are called “Quarrels”. It occurred to me (after having written this poem) that an interesting use of the form would be to devote each diamond to one viewpoint and the next to the opposing viewpoint, a debate, a true quarrel.
I told Brian it might be a good challenge to use this form to present two different points of view considering its name and the form would easily adapt to present two voices or viewpoints. It also works well for one. Here’s the poem I wrote in this style:
THE RAPACIOUS
My eyes
can see the dark
and hidden places where
they meet to steal the wealth beneath
our feet, contaminate the air we breathe.
They play a propaganda game,
extolling wealth that will
be gained as they
disguise
the threat they pose
to water, air, and land.
Distracting us with techno toys
as they position mean machines that tear
the gas and oil from mile deep rocks.
Those profits will enrich
the haughty few
with lives
of Gatsby wealth
insured by covert schemes
while taking it away from those
who need it most. They’re drilling deep below
our homes, releasing side effects –
disease and parasites.
Cabals control
by lies,
denying deeds;
their greed extracts great tolls
on earth and all who dwell thereon.
What they forget is even wealth will not
protect them from the ravages
that they’ve unleashed. They too
may face what they
devised.© Gay Reiser Cannon * 4.8.2014
Here are the rules for the form that I invented for one subject: It is composed of a series of lines beginning with one line of one iambic foot, then two, three, four, five, four, three, two iambic feet and then again one iambic foot which rhymes with the initial one foot line.
Basically then the form is blank verse that is shaped in diamonds or triangles with one sustaining middle rhyme of one foot. You may choose to add either internal or end rhymes as well. The only requirement is for the one foot lines to rhyme. Hyphenating end words is prohibited. A minimum of two diamonds should be made.
If you choose two opposing viewpoints, I think it would be best if you finished the window pane with a single iambic for that. One that rhymes with the first line; however, it would probably be easier to change the rhyme in each following stanza as it is no longer a bridge to the next stanza. If you center the poem, you would insert a line break and if you right/left alternate, you would complete the shape.
Also I think another adaptation might facilitate writing an argument. If the text per stanza requires more than the 50 syllables, I see no reason why one couldn’t add more lines in the same progression building up to a 6, 7, 8, 9 etc. foot line before receding back to the one iambic rhyming foot. But to make the shape of the poem consistent, the number you choose would have to be repeated in every following stanza for both voices.
So that is today’s challenge. Writing a “Falling Diamonds” poem or come up with an argument or two points of view and dedicate stanzas of “Quarrels” to that debate. Formatting with one viewpoint left formatted and the other right formatted would give the effect of bulletins, flags, or arrow points. I fiddled around a little with WordPress to see if it would accommodate the formatting. If you use the QUOTES [” ] box to format, you can place one set left justify, click on another new QUOTES box and right justify, alternating down the page. It does start and end with quotation marks though; so, that might influence your decision. I haven’t figured Blogger out yet. Of course if you know HTML you can format in code under the HTML tab when composing your post.
- Link the poem on your blog by copying its name from your address line.
- Click on Mr. Linky which will open a Blenza page; fill in your name and
paste the link to your poem. - Read and comment on your fellow poets’ poems.
- Join the poets in the pub by clicking on the Comments on this page.
Welcome to the pub everyone this very fine autumn day. We are having proper fall weather here in Texas, so the windows are open and blowing in fresh breezes. I hope you’re not intimidated by the form today. It’s really quite accessible and fits into natural speech. The most difficult thing for me to do was to choose my words for each argument, and I suspect that will be true in all cases. This was an easy choice for me as I write both free verse and form poetry. I could argue both sides within myself. So enjoy it. There’s no rigidity here. If you prefer to count syllables, I think that would work..might not be as rhythmic but would work as to design with line length.
I couldn’t do an argument this time.. but I did a quarrel once in a sestina.. lots of work, but lots of fun
ha. ok, i feel bad…you spun off my comment on doing a conversation or two perspectives and the form has befuddled me as of yet…i am working on it though…and hoping that tonight i get it done so i can post first thing in the morning gay….thanks for hosting…i might go the syllable route…that opens it up a bit for me…
while i appreciate a nice set of feet…i dont count them all that well…ha…
actually as a dialogue the iambs works quite well… there is a certain build of intensity as the lines get longer.. and then gradually fading into that single iamb…
Whatever works for you is fine. You know Brian, you do things I will never know how to do. And I think your thinking is superior. You find those crazy twists which I appreciate but just can’t wrap my head around!
Wow, what a technical challenge, Gay. I keyed off the poem you posted yesterday on your site, opposing diamonds in opposing font, & it all seemed to go well until
I tried to post my document on my blog. Christ, poor Google just could not grasp
the concept, so the results are scattered & very free form; perhaps the universe was intervening, who knows? I word processed for an hour, & finally let some of the lines just run amok. Oh well, a grand challenge regardless, & at least in my Document pages, the form is closer to accurate, though far from flawless.
I’m so sorry Glenn. I struggled around with Blogger. That happened to me on my conversation poem with the couple in the department store. I had a very hard time formatting two voices.
I don’t mind what it does today. I know it’s not as attractive on your blog as it would be if these blogs would accommodate our forms. But I will be able to figure it out, and if you get it published they will type-set it properly, and when you do remember to say I “composed” the shape of it. Thanks.
I enjoyed this challenge a lot.. and tried to weave it into a narrative story.. also I did choose to make all the single iambs to rhyme, and form a bridge between the stanza so they could either be the end or a new beginning.. hmm as always I enjoy working with forms… it’s like the restriction makes me free.. (sounds weird)..
You know Bjorn, for years I wrote free verse (I really don’t even know if it qualified as that…I wrote a lot of nouns and adjectives and too (way way) too few verbs. I scattered them down the page feeling all e.e. cummings and thinking I was clever. Eventually they almost all went to the rubbish bin or got re-written. But since I was anointed to write about form (who me?) I have a handle on it, and it has freed up the way I think about the poem. Pre-planning has a lot to do with that, I think!
woot! sorry i’m late – was doing a pilates workout with my daughter…..oy…my abs ache…smiles
what a challenging form gay… i hard a hard time – scrapped the first one and then just let it flow…. and had some fun with it… smiles
Great Claudia. Not late. I’ll be around this evening and tomorrow. Plenty of time to get something done. I should be doing yoga or something. Been having asthma last two weeks. Not breathing so well…yuk!
ugh…asthma sucks… hope you’re breathing easier soon gay…
I just linked the post I had for the last prompt.(I did not make it in time for that one.)..hope that is okay. 🙂
hey carrie – just lef you a comment that i have to remove the link as it would be unfair for others that didn’t make it in time as well
but i’m sure if you visit some that linked for the brooked shaden prompt they will visit you back
or you could also link this to openlinknight this saturday – no theme restricitions there…
Sorry Carrie – but there’s plenty of time left to try a diamond/quarrel if you like. 😉
Gay, that’s such an enticing prompt and pretty poem but I can’t keep my eyes open. Maybe tomorrow….
smiles… sleep well viv… i’m getting pretty tired as well…soon bedtime over here too
I know..but come ’round tomorrow if you get a chance. I’ll be checking in all day tomorrow and even later. Thanks Viv.
no rhyme
this time
smiles
glad you gave the form a try… it’s def. not an easy one
This challenge managed to drag me away from Thursday Night Football! Still deciding if that’s a good thing or not, but I enjoyed myself so… well… there you go. 🙂
Hi Barry, I liked yours a lot.. you definitely met the bar..
Agree with Bjorn!
agree with björn and gay…smiles
It’s ok…sometimes thing just don’t come. This took me a while – not so much to write, but in deciding what to say.
Not an easy task. Grabbed song and gave this a go.
Very effective. I enjoyed it very much. It had a lyrical quality. Well done!
yours was like a mantra… glad you gave it a try
Sad to see the small turn out for this prompt, Gay; your challenge had verve & validity as poetics, and you are always so gracious with your comments & criticism. I am very happy I plunged ahead & gave the form a shot; some part of my poetic cortical chamber has a new wrinkle in it now; thanks.
I really like your “Rapacious”, Gay…wish I could write one like it, but mine is simple. Hope I got it right. Hope that asthma gets better soon.
I’m late again! Now I have two poems to post for your open mic Saturday! I at first thught the explanation too hard, but whenI sat down to it the iambs lined up–except for in one or two spots, and the end rhyme was just fine. Further, when I looked up quarrel, I found the perfect topic. I did not find the window efinition, but like the idea of a fdirty quarrel–haha! Wish I could have fit that in the poem.
Susan, we have OpenLinkNight later ~ Please link up so more can visit ~
Wow, sorry I missed this challenge. Fantastic. Love your poem too Gay