Ooh, spooky. Doesn’t just hearing that word send shivers right to the source of your poetic inspiration? Every once in awhile I’ll “meet” a word and just the sound/look of it will be so intriguing that I feel it was sent from the realms of the divine to, from that day on, be entwined to my fate, perhaps as a teacher or a ghost revealing something I need to see.

So here’s the thing with the Shadorma: it is a phantom form enshrouded in shadows and mystery. Poetry bloggers who introduce the form seem to copy/paste the definition from Wikipedia’s own vague entry, but fail to back up what the Shadorma says it is. Word on the online street says that it is a Spanish form, though the name doesn’t sound Spanish (like other “true” forms, such as the letrilla or the pareado) and I have yet to find one example written by a Spanish poet. I’m inclined to believe that it is a recent invention that, due to its enigmatic and alluring nature, has drawn in a cult following.

Here is an example of the Shadorma, that also happens to be an acrostic as well.

‘Human Love‘
by Tamyka Bell

Taste the sky
with each breath we draw
into old
lungs lit bright,
illuminated by time’s
travelling sorrow.

Human love
under wisdom’s gaze
never fades;
grief — like us —
ever changing, never still,
runs to meet the sun.

Swirling seas
uncover each night’s 
nuances,
skies swept clean,
ending the day as a kiss
trembles between us.

Seasons come,
hidden lovers go —
after all,
dreams are dreams,
only that, no more, and what
we hide becomes lost.

(Source: poetry-in-form.com)

Let us dVerse poets be allured! Shadorma is a syllabic poem consisting of six-line stanzas. The pattern is 3-5-3-3-7-5, and you may write one stanza, twenty, or anywhere in between. In honor of its nebulous origins, I suggest the content explore the fog, the paranormal, the unexplained phenomena of life and death. Ultimately though, let the Shadorma lead you in what you shall write…and reveal.

Thanks for reading and participating in this week’s Meeting the Bar with your host, Amaya. Here’s how to link up your work/secrets:
* Write a poem based on the prompt.
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