Scheming Rhymes: Formal Poetry Directory

Sharing Loneliness.

Brooklyn Crane — Sat, 09 May 2026 14:15:59 GMT

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, via Wikimedia Commons.

Bringing rhyme, meter, and form back to the forefront of poetry online has turned into a mission for this publication. It is thus that we, the formal poetry community, present you with a collaboration with some of our best writers, on the topic of loneliness—that which all of us face in today’s day and age, especially as authors still clinging to our roots as poets. We hope that you enjoy it!

Please read and subscribe to, in alphabetical order: , , , , , and . They have made this possible with their incredible talent, and I claim no credit for their contributions.

All participants were given the choice of writing either two sestets of iambic tetrameter or four quatrains of iambic trimeter, leading to a similar length regardless of their decision. Rhyme schemes, however, were left to be determined by each contributor. By the end, everyone had added a sprinkle of their own style to the original prompt!

Sharing Loneliness.

SILENCE by

We each endure the path,
the silence borne within,
the tort’rous aftermath
of hiding in a grin.

And silence means a flood
of sorrows kept inside,
their edges drawing blood
until it's suicide,

with no-one to explain
or stand with us to share
this hemorrhage of pain-
ful loneliness we bear.

We walk in multitudes
as each endures their own
neglect and self-secludes—
together but alone.

ALONE UPON THE SCENE by

I walk alone upon the scene,
A troupe and audience of one;
Others there were in time between;
They clap their hands and then they run
And so they run and do run still.
What? Play on? Perhaps I will.

Silence! My final act draws near;
Compelled by life, until the end
I'll play my drama's part. A tear
I shed, unto this lot to bend
Constrained — but suddenly "Amen!"
I cry with joy, "Again, again!"

FOR THOSE LOST by

Asleep upon my chest
in vacant baby rest,
with silky hair caressed,
your little body breathes.

Your face is smushed by mine
in wrinkly, ridging line;
yet I awake to find
your breath blown away.

In moonlit breeze, you fled
and left me here instead,
my chest no more a bed
on which you would have breathed.

The maple needs a nest,
the sun, it needs the west,
a father needs a chest
to breathe and beat against.

THE COURSE by

Above the saddle grows a glow
Within the looming clouds of night
That waxes in travail until
It crowns the mountains, squeezed between
The gently sloping wooded peaks
To fall into the sky, alone.

A silver egg, a shining stone.
Not knowing who it is she seeks,
Whose light’s reflected in her mien,
She glides through darkness, slides downhill,
To climb again to final height
And die, as dawn begins to show.

NEW WIDOWHOOD by

You’ll come again? You smile and say
Of course. We both know there’s no way.
The house is always quiet now
He’s gone. Some days I don’t know how
To bear the silence any more —
I sit and cry there on the floor.

They all have busy lives, she said.
They’re busy now, or else they’re dead.
I wish the dead lived busy lives
If something personal survives
Beyond us, in a twilight zone —
Perhaps then I’d feel less alone.

VOI CH’INTRATE by

Your fingers running through my hair,
The Comedy open on my face
to shade my eyes from dappled sunlight
covering scattered picnic remnants.
You ask me what I'm thinking like
a woman does who wants to know.

What if I told you that I might
as well be Dante by the gates
without a Virgil, hope abandoned,
resisting the insistent sense
that you could never be my Beatrice?
So I just smile and murmur nothing.

LONELINESS SHARED by

We'll always be alone,
For no one shares our minds—
There is no commissure
Between our separate brains.

Our friendships can postpone
What introspection finds;
Distraction is the cure
While mortal care remains.

My friends above have shown
Just how our plan unwinds:
To keep your focus pure,
You let them take the reins,

And for a spell unknown,
You feel the tie that binds
And in that ligature
Forget your lonely pains.

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, via Wikimedia Commons.

Thank you so much for reading the entirety of this collaboration. We hope to demonstrate the power and worth of rhyme, meter, and form, which are still very much alive today, flourishing here on Substack. Again, please take the time to check out every contributor’s work on their respective profiles.

Formal Poetry Directory, Issue #7.

Brooklyn Crane — Sat, 02 May 2026 14:15:03 GMT

On to issue #7! As stated before in notes and other posts, this directory is now going to be uploaded every two Saturdays in order to find new writers, reach more people, and focus on building a community among those included. After the launch of A Directory of Formal Poetry Authors, we intend to create a more cohesive community, with many and more interesting plans coming to light in the coming days.

Stay tuned for a special post dropping next week!

Welcome back to the Formal Poetry Directory, compiled and curated by Brooklyn Crane on Scheming Rhymes! Villanelles, sestinas, haiku, cinquains; rhyme, meter, rhythm. All those things seemingly lost in the age of Instapoetry and the thought of “It’s too niche to matter”—clustered in one page for you to read, every other week.

Below, you will see poems written, posted, found, and gathered over the last seven days, by genre and form. Please check out the authors’ pages and publications. To support each other is to support the art that has made us who we are today. Comment if you belong among us and would like to be involved!

My most sincere gratitude to, in alphabetical order, , , , , , , , , , , and ; for writing these pieces and carrying our traditions forth through time. I claim no credit for their works.

Authors in bold are those who write with form or wordplay on a regular basis!

→ Villanelle.

French form consisting of five triplets and a quatrain, as well as two refrains woven through them.

Calloused and Calm

As My Temples Grow Grey

We’re always told that age is just a number…

24 days ago · 7 likes · 9 comments · Calloused and Calm

→ Sonnet.

A poem form totaling fourteen lines in varying arrangements, either separated in groups or written as one whole. Traditionally written with iambic pentameter.

Ornamentalist Verse

Amoretto LI

What fool thinks he can beauty eternize…

15 days ago · 5 likes · 5 comments · Elijah Dickinson

Ego Scribo

Sonnet the First

What droplets flow again? No blood have I…

2 months ago · 6 likes · 2 comments · Florey

→ Rondeau.

A lyrical French form that uses repetition and a fixed pattern to create a song-like experience.

Scheming Rhymes

Rondeau: His Holy Sins.

This post was inspired by Andrea (Andy) Curran 🌄’s tackling and explanation of the rondeau form with the poem titled The Time is Now. However, while I encourage you to read Andrea’s work, His Holy Sins is thematically different from it, and my take on its composition resembles the rest of my explorations…

14 days ago · 35 likes · 36 comments · Brooklyn Crane

→ Quatrain.

A stanza or poem section of four lines, rhyming in ABAB, ABBA, AAAA, or any derivatives where all lines rhyme.

Vulgar Earth

A Dublin Night

(I wasn't happy with the last poem. Reading it back, it was incomprehensible, even to me…. that wrote it! This, however is based around the same theme…

13 days ago · 20 likes · 2 comments · Ross Ion Coyle (M)

safia's Substack

Rain Wrote Your Name

The night wore clouds like a sorrowful veil…

12 days ago · 34 likes · 9 comments · safia Ijaz

the ever-breaking heart

Schrodinger's Strait

What do you do when the strait is both open and closed by two different parties? What state does it take without observation? When will we stop supporting these lunatics in power? Do we truly live in the dumbest timeline?The strait of Hormuz is now Schrodinger's strait Is it open? Or closed? Do we sail? Should we wait? They both say it's open. They both…

25 days ago · 6 likes · Daniel O

Donald Paul Owens II

Song for Sunday

Song for SundayForgive Me Father! I Have Sinned by Donald Paul Owens II, 2021 Forgive me, Father! I have sinned in thought and word and action. I've yielded to the voice within, instead of Your instruction. Have pity on Your child of dust, nor keep Your wrath forever. Cast off my sins from east t…

15 days ago · 6 likes · 3 comments · Donald Paul Owens II

Kelly Trost

SONG OF THE POET GATHERER

I gathered you to me, those bells in your voice, your knells echoed through me, my music of choice. Each poem, a treasure, so sweet and so fair, a blessing, a pleasure, a song or a prayer. Then mute fell the song of your lyrical muse, and, oh, how I longed to believe and to choose to answer your call with my own poem’s tone, pretending the fall …

21 days ago · 111 likes · 24 comments · Kelly Trost

→ Pantoum.

A Malay form consisting of quatrains with lines that repeat from one stanza to the next in a specific pattern and in accordance to traditional rules.

Life is a Poem

5. Pantoum in English: Dancing with Dev

14 days ago · 8 likes · 3 comments · Rosemary DeSena

→ Limerick.

A five-line anapestic stanza following a 3-3-2-2-2 feet pattern per line respectively, usually tackling themes with humor or absurdity.

Steven Kent

Black and White and Read All Over

There they sit on our shelves with the rest…

12 days ago · 6 likes · 5 comments · Steven Kent

→ Haiku.

A three-line stanza or section which, in English, is comprised of 5, 7, and 5 syllables per line respectively.

The Poetic Pause 🌄

Sifting Through Meaning - Poetry

Natures Soliloquy…

21 days ago · 95 likes · 52 comments · Andrea (Andy) Curran 🌄

Please follow and support each other. Check out everyone’s work and other posts. We are all making an effort to preserve the roots and traditions of poetry while experiencing the world and capturing our experiences in verse. The only way we keep our niche alive is to face the future together. -B.

A Directory of Formal Poetry Authors!

Brooklyn Crane — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:15:40 GMT

Ever the cornerstones of poetry as we know it, rhyme, meter, and form remain at the heart of what makes poetic composition its own discipline. Many authors today claim to carry these traditions forth while barely practicing poetic prose and line breaks in excess, and, though they may be at the forefront of the industry now, there are many of us who decorate our corners of the internet with pure adoration to what poetry still can be. These are some of the voices that shout it proudly, the writers who have decided to never let the tradition be overtaken by popularity.

Introduction.

Unlike entries of the Formal Poetry Directory, this post will be pinned at the top of Scheming Rhymes’ publication history so that new readers can easily find and be exposed to the work of these authors, whose styles embody the traditional virtues of poetry—be they an affinity for rhyme, a recurrence of form, or a prevalence of meter. Some will be grouped by form; others, by theme. It will be updated regularly and reposted just as much to keep it to standard and give writers their deserved place, respectively.

If you are reading on desktop, the slider on the left will guide you to your destination!

Share and invite others who might belong in our midst!

Advocates for Poetry.

This section includes authors who actively share, explain, fight for or experiment with poetry in all aspects of its composition. These are publications endorsed by the Formal Poetry Directory and Scheming Rhymes out of respect and admiration—in the pursuit of exalting this artform for all of its potential.

. Weekly. “I write poems that test form and constraint, and I make rock, folk, and punk music under self-imposed rules. I am exploring what stays human when structure and expression collide.... Host of the Fate of the Arts podcast.” Traditionally published.

Anthony Etherin Poetry

Four Poems

Hello friends…

14 days ago · 11 likes · 6 comments · Anthony Etherin

. Monthly. No bio description. Needs no introduction.

poemshape

The Multifaceted Pentameter: Part 2

At the end of my last post, I left you with this line…

a month ago · 14 likes · 22 comments · Keir

. Weekly. “Rolfer, philosopher, anthroposopher.” Self-published.

theoria-press

liturgy of the seasons (4)

In 1912-1913, Rudolf Steiner created a sort of liturgy of the natural and spiritual year in the form of fifty-two short verses. Experience—my own and others—testifies to the powerful effect that a short meditation on the relevant verse throughout the course of the year can have in respect to awakening and sensitizing the soul to each season’s unique qu…

15 days ago · 8 likes · 1 comment

. Sporadically. “A lover of literature and especially poetry!”

Metrical Poet

To A Magnolia Tree

TO A MAGNOLIA TREE All winter long you waited on the spring, With boughs stretched naked in the winter’s cold. Soon as its fingers started beckoning Your slender flow’r-buds started to unfold… Till all your arms were filled with ripened moons Whose orbs remain unset even on sunny afternoons. Your flowers flush with pink up fr…

15 days ago · 4 likes · 1 comment · Metrical Poet

. Weekly. “Poet grappling with the ironies and incongruities of heartbreak, religion, meditation, and mortality. I write mostly in English, but also in French and sometimes other languages. First person ≠ autobiographical.”

In the Shade of Saturn

My Verses

For thirty years, I wrote these verses, Nurtured them, and made them grow, Fed them knowledge, gave attention, Rested them, and loved them so. All so one day, I could give them To a worthy, open soul Who’d love and nurture them as I had, Understand them, feel their goal. It wasn’t long before I learned That no one loved them as I did. No m…

15 days ago · 13 likes · 2 comments · Narcisse Tardif

. Weekly. “Poet and musician, Traditional Catholic. Dedicated to the pursuit of wonder and the preservation of culture.”

Rhyme n' Metre

The Philosopher

The Cattle Muster (Siegfried Schneider…

20 days ago · 57 likes · 29 comments · Thomas McKendry

Concrete Forms.

→ Cinquain.

A poem consisting of five lines of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 2 syllables respectively, not necessarily rhymed.

. “I'm a first-time self-published author and learning lots on my writer journey. My book The Edge of Grief was born out of my own "living" grief experiences for my dad: still with us but also lost to us by the diseases Alzheimer's and dementia.” Self-published.

Beverley’s Substack

Listen. With sing-song sound,

Listen…

17 days ago · 5 likes · 1 comment · Beverley Dickson

→ Haiku.

A three-line stanza or section which, in English, is comprised of 5, 7, and 5 syllables per line respectively.

. Twice a week. “Escritor, haijin, cuentacuentos, narrador e ilustrador. Buscador de historias y cazador de silencios incómodos. Comparto haikus, cuentos, relatos y los procesos de escritura que dan forma a mi mundo.”

El Taller de las Palabras

✒️Haikus #31

Querido haiku-diario…

14 days ago · 9 likes · 3 comments · Charlie Marrez

. Daily. “I am John Belchamber. I write haiku and other short form poetry. Sometimes from prompts given by others, sometimes from my day, but always from my heart. I’m looking for connect with fellow haijin and share. My daily posts are free to access.”

JRB Haiku

Hazy Moon & Endeavour

Today’s daily haiku prompt words are hazy moon and endeavour…

14 days ago · 6 likes · JRB Haiku

. Daily. “Writer of picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, poems and a lotta lists. Here are some of them.” Traditionally published.

Sentiment in Several Syllables

Haiku 27 -- April 27, 2026

Yesterday, we drove out to a native plant sale being held on prairie land south of town. It was pretty out, and the place was crawling with folks who know SO MUCH about taproots and blossoms and varieties and runners…

14 days ago · 2 likes · Liz Garton Scanlon

. Digest; weekly on Wednesdays. “Explorations, Experiments, Expeditions into Faith, Myth, Folklore, Speculative Fiction.”

Mythic Expeditions

Haiku Digest #79

Gray skies and gray thoughts dominated this week. Sometimes they are like that. Hope your week found you cozy and warm amid whatever rain fell…

19 days ago · 2 likes · Steve Arensberg

. Sporadic. “Making sense of life's mysteries in 5-7-5 form.”

The Haiku Garden

#161

spring rains make them pop…

14 days ago · 1 like · The Haiku Garden

→ Sonnet.

A poem form totaling fourteen lines in varying arrangements, either separated in groups or written as one whole. Traditionally written with iambic pentameter.

. Twice a month. “A logophile from New England who writes (mostly metrical) poetry from time to time. If you decide to read my poetry, you’ll likely encounter unfamiliar words.”

Ornamentalist Verse

Amoretto LI

What fool thinks he can beauty eternize…

15 days ago · 3 likes · 1 comment · Elijah Dickinson

Stanza arrangements.

→ Couplet.

A stanza or section of a stanza constituted by two lines that rhyme.

. Twice a day. “Assalamualaikum I want you all to know I believe in empowerment family and love these are the things that I write about in my poetry and I pray one day Allah bless me with a beautiful woman so that I can honor her and love her.”

Eldridge’s Substack

The Weaver of the Quiet Hours

## The Weaver of the Quiet Hours…

14 days ago · 12 likes · 1 comment · 🥰Eldridge Brown 🥰

. Sporadic. “A lover of art, history, stories, and mythology. Always writing poetry related to at least one of these.”

Millennial Poems

Angel of Death

Pain and heartache grow like weeds Plagues and wars the relentless seeds A gentle hand lifts off the veil While the scythe cuts through sheer torment's ail Delivering you unto the field of light Wh…

14 days ago · 12 likes · 1 comment · Jordan Elings

→ Quatrain.

A stanza or poem section of four lines, rhyming in ABAB, ABBA, AAAA, or any derivatives where all lines rhyme.

. Daily. “eLOVEution inspires hearts to blossom to their truth and authenticity. I am a guide.” Self-published.

eLOVEution

Squeals

Squeals - What Love Says…Playfully unlock pathways. A soul squeals in praise. Sunday is a fun day for laughter to roll and soar. Choose to jump-start! In a twinkle of a heart. Bare feet on the grass, Full of love and sass! Joy and bliss to squeal, Laughter will always heal. Love inhales and exhales– Wild and free as laughter avails…

15 days ago · 4 likes · eLOVEution

. Daily. “I write poems and essays to make sense of the world, hold onto my humanity, and maybe add a little harmony where there’s too much noise.”

Meg’s Substack

No More Bowing:

Work the day and spend the night, Screens replacing living light. Empty pockets, blood and sweat, Bound before the trap was set. Pay the toll with flesh and time, Blood that feeds the upward climb. Feel the tiredness in the bone, Staring at a glowing phone. Stop the wheel and break the frame, Every mind its own domain. Ceart na Suadh—the blister's bit…

22 days ago · 23 likes · 8 comments · Meg Floss

. Sporadically. “I’m a writer; I love to write stories with colors and emotions. I believe that struggle is key to success; that’s why I always play with colors in a fantasy style.”

safia's Substack

The House That Smiled at Sunset

The evening wore a robe of gold…

19 days ago · 36 likes · 19 comments · safia Ijaz

→ Quatrain - ABCB.

A quatrain (four-line stanza or section) where only every second and fourth lines rhyme with each other.

. Weekly. “Author of the fantasy novel Diamond Spice. 'On The Train to Koh-Riley' is where I share poetry about everyday magic and the creatures from my stories.” Self-published.

On The Train to Koh-Riley

Colours are what's in between

On one side, all is bright and sparkling On the other, everything’s sad and grey There’s a chasm between, where normal lives The pastel colours of ‘every day’ In that daylight band, I will not rest Instead I leap from side to side When I’m done with sublime I’ll dive across To wallow, bawl and hide When I’ve emptied my ego and dragged out my hate And…

20 days ago · 48 likes · 23 comments

. Twice a day. “Former award winning emergency/critical care/flight nurse/paramedic shares life experiences and wisdom through poetry and prose. Follow me on my life’s journey and recovery from CPTSD.”

Leslie Bertrand

Going Under

I’m standing here…

14 days ago · 5 likes · 1 comment · Leslie Bertrand

Themes.

→ Experimental.

. Weekly. “I write poetry, mostly in French then I translate into English. I use this space as a lab, so I post drafts most of the time. I just want a place to keep a trace of what I write, whether it's good or bad.”

Kévin Cortes Ibanez

In the dead birds’ dirty water

a month ago · 3 likes · 2 comments · Kévin Cortes Ibanez

. Biweekly. “Poète maudit | buckling-spring fanatic | subs back | Hard at work on ANASTASIA'S IDIOTS, an epic stage musical inspired by the novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Seeking a black-market orchestral composer to aid in score completion. Are you carrying?”

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The Reciprocity Well

L.A. Lobotomy

\ `}======>———{][}—~o.o…

21 days ago · 69 likes · 59 comments · Rafa Joseph

→ Mythology.

. Twice a day. “Just this.”

Vulgar Earth

A Dublin Night

(I wasn't happy with the last poem. Reading it back, it was incomprehensible, even to me…. that wrote it! This, however is based around the same theme…

14 days ago · 17 likes · 2 comments · Ross Ion Coyle (M)

→ Nature.

. Daily. “Weed puller and word whacker, cultivating flowers, fruits, and flights of fancy.”

Writing With My Eyes Closed

Blowan & Growan

Whither the scattered seed will blow When flower full has withered Thither will fresher beauty grow When fields of blossoms nither…

13 days ago · 3 likes · 1 comment · Rue Kream

→ Religious - Christianity.

. Occasionally. “Poet - Father - Husband - Christian - Physics grad - Utter formal poetry nerd - I run a blog featuring my poetry, along with articles about Beauty, Christianity, and formal poetry. Pop on over (whomadetheeyes.com) and enjoy what you find!” Self-published.

Who Made The Eyes But I?

Pray for Poets

Pray for poets, poor old souls, Who trip on sticks and fall in holes, Who task themselves impossibly To fasten clouds to paper trees, So grandiose, they die for words But when they're read, they blush as birds, Who slave to solve infinity With letters less than thirty-three (Inflicted with eternity), Who turn the keys to ancient doors On houses never bu…

16 days ago · 12 likes · 6 comments · Abram Newcomer

. Daily. “Southern writer and poet.”

Bocephus

Momma Will Dropkick You From Heaven

(Between the Ring Ropes and the Spiritual Rite I Had to Choose…

a month ago · 5 likes · 2 comments · Bocephus

. Frequent. "A poet carpenter living in the forests of PA surrounded by children and grandchildren. Published in Good Work Magazine, Cantus Christi 2020, A Treasury of Psalms and Hymns, and etc.” Traditionally published.

Donald Paul Owens II

Song for Sunday

15 days ago · 3 likes · 1 comment · Donald Paul Owens II

. Sporadic. “Poet, &c.. “This Way to Warmth” available June 2026, “and now, under conditions that seem unpropitious.”

By Babel’s Streams

Good Friday

a month ago · 21 likes · 5 comments · Kilby Austin

. Sporadic. “Poetry, because everything matters. Christian, husband, father. Chattanooga, TN.”

. Seldom yet enriching. "‘Time is a moving image of eternity.’"

Noesis

A Prayer from the Depths

Hear me, Lord, if Thou canst hear…

a month ago · 5 likes · 2 comments · Noesis

→ Satire & Absurdity.

. Sporadically. Traditionally published.

Steven Kent

The Write Time

Here’s a poem about one specific struggle faced by pretty much every author who’s ever lived. This was recently featured in The Orchards Poetry Journal. Cheers…

19 days ago · 19 likes · 11 comments · Steven Kent

. Weekly. “Rhydiqulous Rhymes (2024) and other musings.” Self-published.

The Whimsical Wood

The Lost Story | Poem

I haven’t been online much this last week. I’m stuck doing software projects I can’t put off. I do hope Substack has been behaving itself while I’ve been distracted…

24 days ago · 13 likes · 9 comments · Tim Forsythe

Formal Poetry Directory, Issue #6.

Brooklyn Crane — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:18:02 GMT

Before introducing you to this week’s batch of formal poetry, it’s important to thank all of you for your continued support of this publication. Today, Scheming Rhymes nears 250 subscribers, and, most excitingly, uploads its 50th post! The establishment of a platform for formal poetry practitioners and enthusiasts remains the goal, as well as the outreach and facilitation of a space where all of us may support each other. More on that soon!

Welcome back to the Formal Poetry Directory, compiled and curated by Brooklyn Crane on Scheming Rhymes! Villanelles, sestinas, haiku, cinquains; rhyme, meter, rhythm. All those things seemingly lost in the age of Instapoetry and the thought of “It’s too lame to be popular”—clustered in one page for you to read, week by week.

My most sincere gratitude to, in alphabetical order, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; for writing these pieces and carrying our traditions forth through time. I claim no credit for their works.

Authors in bold are those who write with form or wordplay on a regular basis!

Catalexis.

The subtraction of a meter’s last syllable, leaving the last metrical foot incomplete and changing the rhythmic pattern of a stanza.

Scheming Rhymes

Catalexis: Of Rage & Ruin.

This poem was inspired by the work of HVR, who often writes on disruption here on Substack with a cause; a prompt by Nicole for No Kings, and a rondeau written and posted by Andrea 🌄. Due to the recent barrage of increasingly terrible news that still saturate the air, I have decided to dedicate this week’s poetry breakdown to…

a month ago · 29 likes · 18 comments · Brooklyn Crane

Cinquain.

A poem consisting of five lines of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 2 syllables respectively, not necessarily rhymed.

Counterpoint.

A positioning of two stanzas or passages side by side so that lines from one continue on to the next, forming a new idea or adding a different perspective to both works.

Porch Sparrow Editorial

Blood Orange Baby

Another contrapuntal! This is my absolute favorite form. I shall be posting several of these. Again, the way this works: Read column 1, column 2, and then across column 1 to 2…

2 months ago · 18 likes · 11 comments · Ani Beeler

Couplet.

A stanza or section of a stanza constituted by two lines that rhyme.

Befriend Your Shadow - vol.1

The shadow is not simply dark…

a month ago · 69 likes · 41 comments · pm

Kelly Trost

I WILL BE A WONDER

If I could be a wonder, what would I be? Let me think about it, let me see… I would be an ocean, a breathtaking sight. I would be a rainbow, beautifully bright. I would be an oak tree, ancient, all knowing. I would be a river, endlessly flowing. I would be a comet eternally glowing. I would be a zephyr, sage whispers blowing. I would be a pathway…

a month ago · 97 likes · 37 comments · Kelly Trost

Haiku.

A three-line stanza or section which, in English, is comprised of 5, 7, and 5 syllables per line respectively.

Liz’s Substack

Haiku 3 -- April 3, 2026

I am lucky enough to live minutes away from the perfect way to start a day. All the runners and walkers and rowers and cyclists agree. We find ourselves here, before checking the news or our work emails. We know the barrage awaits. But first, this…

a month ago · 5 likes · 5 comments · Liz Garton Scanlon

Quatrain.

A stanza or poem section of four lines, rhyming in ABAB, ABBA, AAAA, or any derivatives where all lines rhyme.

Writing In The Shadows

Mr. Sandman

Prompt by Labyrinthia Mythweaver…

a month ago · 46 likes · 17 comments · Laura B Writing in the Shadows

Monica A Leyva

Spring, As System

Photo is from my front yard…

a month ago · Monica A Leyva

spilled glasses of wine.

the inevitable advance of spring

i want to touch the mottled skin of the sky…

2 months ago · 28 likes · 12 comments · Eugenia P. Frankenberg 🥀

Narcisse's Substack

Three Poems for Easter: 1. The Vision

I see it every time I close mine eyes…

2 months ago · 8 likes · 4 comments · Narcisse Tardif

Sestina.

A poem of six sestets and a three-line envoi (or summation) wherein the last words of each line in the first stanza repeat in the following sestets albeit in different order. Each line of the three-line envoi contains two of these words in order to total all six.

Outside the Script Poetry

Sestina

2 months ago · 21 likes · 12 comments · UpsilonA and Eira Linden

Villanelle.

French form consisting of five triplets and a quatrain, as well as two refrains woven through them.

Writing With My Eyes Closed

Reprise

We are as firmly rooted as the trees We’re corded to our mothers in the womb Yet still we float on golden symphonies We lose and find ourselves in a reprise A flower once cut down will then re-bloom We are as firmly rooted as the trees Our lives unfold in multiplicities Each version of ourselves do we subsume Yet still we float on golden symphonies …

a month ago · 4 likes · 2 comments · Rue Kream

DivInspired Substack

Sitting on the Shelf (Villanelle)

(originally published at https://powerpoetry.org/poems/sitting-shelf-villanelle…

a month ago · 2 likes · 1 comment · Victoria Rose

Please follow and support each other. Check out everyone’s work and other posts. We are all making an effort to preserve the roots and traditions of poetry while experiencing the world and capturing our experiences in verse. The only way we keep our niche alive is to face the future together. -B.

Formal Poetry Directory, Issue #5.

Brooklyn Crane — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 13:02:53 GMT

Last week, this weekly collection had the honor and pleasure of presenting what practitioners of formal poetry can accomplish together for World Poetry Day—through the post titled A Rite for Spring, which you can read here! It is thus that I propose to you, my esteemed readers and friends, that we gather our efforts often for projects of a similar nature. May we further collaborate merrily in the future!

Welcome back to the Formal Poetry Directory, compiled and curated by Brooklyn Crane on Scheming Rhymes! Villanelles, sonnets, haiku, pantoums, cinquains; rhyme, meter, rhythm. All those things seemingly lost in the age of Instapoetry and the thought of “It’s not viral enough”—clustered in one page for you to read, week by week.

My most sincere gratitude to, in alphabetical order, , , , , , , , , , , , and ; for writing these pieces and carrying our traditions forth through time. I claim no credit for their works.

Abecedarian.

A poem in which lines start with each of the letters of the alphabet in proper succession.

Writing With My Eyes Closed

Anyone May Be a Zealot

Anyone May Be a Zealot But I beg you Cheer the Xyris Do not let frigid winter Eat away the vivid Flower’s undergirding Give yourself to Holding sorrow If ever rosy Juice will not quench Know the present Left upon your open Mouth needs No thing more Or less than a lick Parched secrets kept Quarantined in jagged Rainbows lofted in Spaces not held …

2 months ago · 2 likes · Rue Kream

Ballad - ABCB pattern.

A quatrain (four-line stanza or section) where only every second and fourth lines rhyme with each other.

Adam Neikirk (Sidereal Press)

A Description of Poetry

There she lies, with tired eyes, With a look that's wild and free; With sunny grace, and stately glance, With tired eyes lies she. All day the sunken bed aboard, Half-strewn with sheet and quill, Surrounded by the shadows, which Fall on her as they will. Who knows that she will come away From coupling with the dawn, Her body heavier with dre…

2 months ago · 10 likes · 5 comments · Adam Neikirk (Sidereal Press)

Ekphrastic poetry.

From Greek ekphrasis, meaning description. A work of poetry that describes usually a piece of visual media.

Experimental poetry.

Poems that create their own patterns by combining two or more traditional forms, as well as poems that experiment with meter while still retaining a rhythmic identity.

The Reciprocity Well

Bereft

— On the precipice of longing…

2 months ago · 83 likes · 52 comments · Rafa Joseph

Eira Linden

Poetry Experimentation's

There are poems that speak, and there are poems that behave…

2 months ago · 5 likes · 1 comment · Eira Linden

Iambic tetrameter.

The arrangement of four iambs—or disyllabic metrical feet wherein every second syllable is stressed—per line in a poem.

Meg’s Substack

No Floor

The myth has frayed, the story's thin, The walls are bowing slowly in. It isn't that the roof might fall, Or shadows pace the outer hall — It's simpler than the fear of heights: The floor has vanished in the night. . We're treading water in the dark, Grasping for a single spark, While those who sold the map and key Are drifting on a different sea. They …

2 months ago · 45 likes · 26 comments · Meg Floss

Petrarchan.

A form of sonnet popularized by Francis Petrarch in Italy, known for being sectioned by rhyme scheme traditionally in octets and sestets.

Special feature!

This past week, I had the joy of encountering ’s Substack. With meticulous and exhaustive detail, Keir has brought us a deep study on the history and composition of the pentameter, as well as a promise of releasing a second part to this amazing post!

poemshape

The Multifaceted Pentameter: Part 1

“True ease in writing comes from art, not chance…

3 months ago · 51 likes · 23 comments · Keir

Quatrain.

A stanza or poem section of four lines, rhyming in ABAB, ABBA, AAAA, or any derivatives where all lines rhyme.

Bocephus

October’s Fool: A Puckish Jewel

(The Soul Before The Ferryman’s Toll…

2 months ago · 1 like · Bocephus

Rondeau.

A lyrical French form that uses repetition and a fixed pattern to create a song-like experience.

The Poetic Pause 🌄

The Time is Now

The time is now to take a stand…

2 months ago · 86 likes · 45 comments · Andrea 🌄

Sestina.

A poem of six sestets and a three-line envoi (or summation) wherein the last words of each line in the first stanza repeat in the following sestets in an traditionally established order.

White Rabbit Poetry Society

A Miracle for Breakfast!

It’s again that time of the month—when we at White Rabbit Poetry Society go through the motions of formal poetry. Or rather, that time of the month when Dorie lets me go ballistic while explaining how to write a specific form. Either way, for today, we are looking at sestinas! My name is…

2 months ago · 18 likes · 3 comments · Brooklyn Crane

Sonnet.

The Shakespearean classic. A poem form totaling fourteen lines composed of three ABAB quatrains (or 4-line stanzas) and a couplet (or 2-line stanza) either separated in groups or written as one whole.

T.B.Talks

A Sonnet: Warm Embrace

This is my first ever Sonnet. It’s also my first deliberate love poem. Other poem attempts of mine have accidentally wandered gently into that garden of Aphrodite and wandered gently out of it again. This time it was intentional…

2 months ago · 23 likes · 18 comments · Tony Burkinshaw

Villanelle.

French form consisting of five triplets and a quatrain, as well as two refrains woven through them.

The Whimsical Wood

What We Carry | Poem

I wrote this villanelle after reading Brooklyn Crane’s post, Villanelle: To Enlighten, Entertain, which includes both his enlightening and entertaining villanelle of the same name…

2 months ago · 10 likes · 4 comments · Tim Forsythe

Please follow and support each other. Check out everyone’s work and other posts. We are all making an effort to preserve the roots and traditions of poetry while experiencing the world and capturing our experiences in verse. The only way we keep our niche alive is to face the future together. -B.

Formal Poetry Directory, Issue #4.

Brooklyn Crane — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 13:02:33 GMT

This week, we have a great batch of forms! Thanks to your submissions and your participation, the Directory has been able to include people whose content revolves almost exclusively around form, as well as so many enthusiasts who are trying these methods for the first time—and to great results, too! However, Substack is so big that there is always space for more.

Do not be discouraged by someone else’s skill or expertise. Give form a try, even if you are not an expert yet, for it is your voice that will make it special.

Welcome to the Formal Poetry Directory, compiled and curated by Brooklyn Crane on Scheming Rhymes! Villanelles, sonnets, haiku, pantoums, cinquains; rhyme, meter, rhythm. All those things seemingly lost in the age of Instapoetry and the thought of “It just doesn’t flow with my feelings”—clustered in one page for you to read, week by week.

Stay tuned for next week! Some poets featured in the past three issues are preparing something special for World Poetry Day weekend!

My most sincere gratitude to, in alphabetical order, , , , , , , , , , , , , , and ; for writing these pieces and carrying our traditions forth through time. I claim no credit for their works.

Ballad - ABCB pattern.

A quatrain (four-line stanza or section) where only every second and fourth lines rhyme with each other.

Substack von Syntax

Love's Shade is Pain

Your playful presence…

2 months ago · 1 like · 1 comment · syntaxevasion

Cinquain.

A poem consisting of five lines of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 2 syllables respectively, not necessarily rhymed.

Beverley’s Substack

I love the moon.

I love The moon. It has…

2 months ago · 3 likes · 3 comments · Beverley Dickson

Couplet.

A stanza or section of a stanza constituted by two lines that rhyme.

Millennial Poems

Picking Up The Pieces

As plagues and wars ravage the lands Let virtuous bones be honored by youthful hands When all seems ruled by death and grief Let hope and beauty bloom like a sweet relief After centuries of marvels…

3 months ago · 27 likes · 5 comments · Jordan Elings

.·:*¨༺ Serbian Babushka ༻¨*:·.

Beg for it

I feel the cold metal ball in my chest…

2 months ago · 32 likes · 20 comments · .·:*¨༺ Serbian Babushka ༻¨*:·.

Haiku.

A three-line stanza or section which, in English, is comprised of 5, 7, and 5 syllables per line respectively.

JRB Haiku

Moon & Quill

Moon and quill are today’s haiku prompt words…

2 months ago · 7 likes · JRB Haiku

The Haiku Garden

#151

high, by the tree line…

2 months ago · 33 likes · 15 comments · The Haiku Garden

Pantoum.

A Malay form consisting of quatrains with lines that repeat from one stanza to the next in a specific pattern and in accordance with traditional rules.

Abigail Seber

Let's Revise

This is a longer post because it takes you through a big part of my writing process: revising. I often fear showing earlier drafts of poems because I know they aren’t there yet, and something about that is embarrassing for me. But I’m going to do it so you can see how I revise a poem. Sometimes I read great poems by other poets and marvel at how effortl…

3 months ago · 6 likes · 11 comments · Abigail Seber

Quatrain.

A stanza of four lines, rhyming in ABAB, ABBA, AAAA, or any derivatives where all lines rhyme.

Kelly Trost

A SPACE FOR HIM

Her heart has a space for him, she cannot pretend otherwise. But fortune is but heartless whim, and his heart with another lies. He mocks and plays uncaring games when ought he think of how she feels, for as his heart the other claims her own heart falters, mourns and stills…

2 months ago · 68 likes · 14 comments · Kelly Trost

Sonnet.

A Writer’s Voice

Sonnet: City of Hate

Hate is a city with the streets scorched black, Where brick remembers every shouted lie. The traffic lights blink red and never slack, As ash drifts down a colorless, blind sky. Here statues rise with mouths of broken stone, Their granite throats still thirsty for command; They ruled a crowd that learned to stand alone Among the bones that whitened in t…

2 months ago · 33 likes · 20 comments · A Writer’s Voice

Scheming Rhymes

Sonnet: The Tempest.

This poem was originally posted as a part of Wildwood Writer’s and Kelly Trost’s January 2026 Mirror Poems collaborative post, titled THE ONLY WITNESS. However, because it best exemplifies a variation of the form which we will be exploring this week, I considered it appropriate to bring it back into the spotlight…

2 months ago · 10 likes · 8 comments · Brooklyn Crane

Rhyme n' Metre

Sonnet XXXIII

San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk (Claude Monet, 1908…

2 months ago · 40 likes · 14 comments · Thomas McKendry

Villanelle.

French form consisting of five triplets and a quatrain, as well as two refrains woven through them.

Mandy Morris

Love Keeps the Fruit

Beloved, you are seeded earth, not fleeting fire…

3 months ago · 96 likes · 43 comments · Mandy Morris

Please follow and support each other. Check out everyone’s work and other posts. We are all making an effort to preserve the roots and traditions of poetry while experiencing the world and capturing our experiences in verse. The only way we keep our niche alive is to face the future together. -B.

Formal Poetry Directory, Issue #3.

Brooklyn Crane — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 14:00:47 GMT

You seem to be enjoying these collections! However, it has been a pleasure, most of all, to find so many voices and hearts that write with rhyme, meter, and form. There are so many of us scattered across Substack who deserve to be known if not at least heard, and there is so much passion invested in this medium that we can’t simply ignore in favor of our own success. Art is one community the selfish can’t afford. Let’s keep poetry alive—together!

Welcome to the Formal Poetry Directory, compiled and curated by Brooklyn Crane on Scheming Rhymes! Sonnets, quatrains, palindromes, cinquains; rhyme, meter, rhythm. All those things seemingly lost in the age of Instapoetry and the thought of “It’s just not as popular anymore”—clustered in one page for you to read, week by week.

Poets will only be featured recurrently if they post different forms, techniques or poetic devices on their feeds from one week to the next. It is important to give new voices space to be seen and heard while also keeping variety accessible for everyone to explore.

My most sincere gratitude to, in alphabetical order, , , , , , , , , , , , and ; for writing these pieces and carrying our traditions forth through time. I claim no credit for their works.

Trochaic meter.

A rhythmic pairing of two syllables where the first is stressed and the second isn’t, creating a verse by itself or a meter when repeated multiple times.

Stefan's Stories

Echoes

3 months ago · 51 likes · 28 comments · Stefan Pasek

Scheming Rhymes

On My Senses.

From my third self-published poetry book—Hers; a blend of romantic, passionate, and intense, written in and about love. “To the love that changed my life; to the one who made it real…

2 months ago · 11 likes · 12 comments · Brooklyn Crane

Tail rhyme.

A line in every stanza or poem section which differs in rhyme or meter from the rest but matches other tail rhymes in the poem—with schemes such as AAAB.

The Whimsical Wood

The Man of Many Masks | Video

Earlier I posted this fun poem, The Man of Many Masks. Today you get a video of me reciting it, from several years ago. Enjoy…

2 months ago · 3 likes · Tim Forsythe

Sonnet - quatorzain.

Noesis

A Monument to Love Eternal

Behold, a monument in verse I’ll raise…

2 months ago · 11 likes · 9 comments · Noesis

Quatrain.

A stanza of four lines, rhyming in ABAB, ABBA, AAAA, or any derivatives where all lines rhyme.

eLOVEution

Embers

Embers - What Love Says…It may seem difficult and dark until love feels the inner spark. Discover a true inner voice igniting in darkness and choice. Allow the embers of love’s light, Embrace a deep breath to ignite. A heart expanding to envelope an inner flame of trust and hope. Allow inner awareness to rise with a heart knowing what is wise. Follow …

2 months ago · 5 likes · 2 comments · eLOVEution

Narcisse's Substack

Low Moon

The moon is hanging low tonight…

2 months ago · 4 likes · 4 comments · Narcisse Tardif

Soulful Witness

The Constant Tide

The Constant Tide How like the sea, the boundless main, Is this deep love of ours; It ebbs in silence, flows again, And fills the quiet hours. Like waves that kiss the sandy shore, And rush to meet the bay, My heart returns to yours once more, No matter how I stray. It holds its secrets, dark and deep, Within a mirror blue, And sings the lonely soul to sleep, Just as I lean on you. For in the rhythm of the tide, A promise is revealed: That I am yours, to hold and bide, Upon this azure field. A thousand miles of salt and foam, Cannot our hearts divide, The rolling ocean brings me home, And binds me to your side. ©2026 Kim Williams, M.Div…

3 months ago · 129 likes · 73 comments · Kim Williams, M.Div.

Palindrome.

The mirroring of letters or words in a text, retaining meaning in the originating half and the resulting mirrored section.

Anthony Etherin Poetry

Four Palindromes

Hello friends…

2 months ago · 18 likes · 14 comments · Anthony Etherin

Cinquain.

A poem consisting of five lines of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 2 syllables respectively, not necessarily rhymed.

Calligram.

A poem or text arranged in the shape of its subject matter.

The Light Within

The Web

3 months ago · 32 likes · 13 comments · Laura Catanzano

Blank verse.

Poetry that makes use of meter and poetic devices—or simply syllable count—but lacks rhymes within stanzas or any established rhyme scheme.

The Cultivated Amateur

Also, a Kaleidoscope

“For poetry too is a little incarnation, giving body to what had been before invisible and inaudible…

2 months ago · 5 likes · 1 comment · Esther Jane

Iron Paul's Substack

"The Chin"

A brilliant child (and wealthy, too…

2 months ago · 10 likes · 1 comment · Iron Paul

Ballad - ABCB pattern.

A quatrain (four-line stanzas or sections) where only every second and fourth lines rhyme with each other.

Very Tired Woman

One Voice, Two persons

I'm a fish out of water Gasping for breath. A young woman attends me 'Til the hour of my death. I speak of my origins, The depths of the sea, Tragedies witnessed, Sweet melodies Sung by beautiful mermaids Luring all to their demise. The maiden writes it all down Staring deep into my eyes. Though I may never swim The seven seas again, My words r…

2 months ago · 11 likes · 7 comments · VeryTiredWoman

Please follow and support each other. Check out everyone’s work and other posts. We are all making an effort to preserve the roots and traditions of poetry while experiencing the world and capturing our experiences in verse. The only way we keep our niche alive is to face the future together. -B.

Formal Poetry Directory, Issue #2.

Brooklyn Crane — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 14:02:25 GMT

After the success of this Directory’s first issue, there is no doubt that there remains an abundance of authors still relishing in traditional poetry composition and structure—here on Substack! I, therefore, resolve to continue gathering samples of this kind of works in an effort to lead writers of rhyme and form in unity and mutual support. Let’s consolidate our niche together!

Welcome to the Formal Poetry Directory, compiled and curated by Brooklyn Crane on Scheming Rhymes! Haiku, tanka, sonnets, villanelles, ghazals; rhyme, meter, rhythm. All those things seemingly lost in the age of Instapoetry and the thought of “It just doesn’t flow enough for what I feel”—clustered in one page for you to read, week by week.

The goal is to feature different rosters week by week, so I take it upon myself to search as much as possible to find new authors to include in this list. However, because not everyone posts weekly or always adheres to form, some recurrence will take place if deemed necessary to make each post worthwhile.

My most sincere gratitude to, in alphabetical order, , , , , , , , , , , , and ; for writing these pieces and carrying our traditions forth through time. I claim no credit for their works.

Ballad - ABCB pattern.

A quatrain (four-line stanzas or sections) where only every second and fourth lines rhyme with each other.

On The Train to Koh-Riley

Broken sweetener

Broken sweetener tablet Borne of plastic clicker Half cut, ragged edge A white disc that should be thicker The mechanism, not trusted To serve the mug direct anymore Punched into a waiting palm ‘cause I’ve seen halves like this before The portion of an entire tab Hopes for boiling dissolution But I want a proper hit of sweetness Not this half-cut con…

3 months ago · 39 likes · 24 comments · B Philippe

Leslie Bertrand

just me

I have varied and myriad…

3 months ago · 4 likes · 1 comment · Leslie Bertrand

Julie Maibach Poetry

New Poem! Talking Fancy

Listen now

3 months ago · 9 likes · 11 comments · Julie Maibach

Rhythm's

The Girl Who Loved the Flowers

When she herself was just a bud…

3 months ago · 56 likes · 42 comments · Hina Gondal

Caesura.

A stop or pause—either by punctuation or preference—that occurs in the middle of verses.

philip flip’s Substack

Take This Moment Seriously

Places Reservees, Grenoble 2024 www.flipphotog.com…

3 months ago · 6 likes · 3 comments · philip flip collier

Couplet.

A stanza or section of a stanza constituted by two lines that rhyme.

Maya's Digital Diary

Motherland—a poem

One day, I’ll find comfort in the womb…

3 months ago · 5 likes · 1 comment · Maya's Digital Diary

Haiku.

A three-line stanza or section which, in English, is comprised of 5, 7, and 5 syllables per line respectively.

The Bunker Archives

Heightened Monitoring

Early Check…

3 months ago · 5 likes · 3 comments · The Begrudging Dispatch

Iron Paul's Substack

"Through the Years"

Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work…

3 months ago · 5 likes · 1 comment · Iron Paul

Petrarchan.

A form of sonnet popularized by Francis Petrarch in Italy, known for being sectioned by rhyme scheme traditionally in octets and sestets.

theoria-press

a certain indefinite number of Petrarchan “sonnets”: №336

TO SEE correctly I must change my stance revert the rhythms of both heart and lung and fall in step with poetry that was sung to ancient melodies that skip and dance when angels moved the hands we now call chance as they descended ladders rung by rung and wrapped themselves inside our mother tongue of Saxon speech and languages Romance begotten in a cha…

3 months ago · 13 likes · 1 comment · Max Leyf

Quatrain.

A stanza of four lines, rhyming in ABAB, ABBA, AAAA, or any derivatives where all lines rhyme.

T.B.Talks

Old Refrain

Daylight breaks and flings itself through glass Waiting for some sense of life to rise A tale that cannot tell itself to pass As truthful silence fills itself with lies Wishing for some wakefulness to come Sleep filled eyelids weight themselves in lead Yet underneath the dreams have been and gone Leaving space for thoughts to penetrate instead More sw…

3 months ago · 6 likes · 6 comments · Tony Burkinshaw

Scheming Rhymes

The Ribbon.

From my second self-published poetry book, Anarcholeptic, dealing with themes of protest and social justice. “To those whose battles shape our world; to those who might still join them…

3 months ago · 17 likes · 4 comments · Brooklyn Crane

Sonnet - quatorzain.

The Shakespearean classic. A poem form totaling fourteen lines composed of three quatrains (or 4-line stanzas) and a couplet (or 2-line stanza) either separated in groups or written as one whole. Traditionally written with iambic pentameter.

Zane Paxton's Poetry & Other Words

Sonnet 018

3 months ago · 27 likes · 4 comments · Zane Paxton

Tail Rhymes.

The use of differing line lengths wherein every long verse is followed by a shorter counterpart to either create emphasis or increase repetition.

Narcisse's Substack

Placid Morning

The sun streams through the dusty slats…

3 months ago · 4 likes · 3 comments · Narcisse Tardif

Please follow and support each other. Check out everyone’s work and other posts. We are all making an effort to preserve the roots and traditions of poetry while experiencing the world and capturing our experiences in verse. The only way we keep our niche alive is to face the future together. -B.

Formal Poetry Directory, Issue #1.

Brooklyn Crane — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 15:01:55 GMT

We have been rare; we have been few. Contemporary traditional poetry composition has been relegated to seldom seen corners of the internet, and its practitioners are barely ever granted a place under the spotlight of the masses. It’s time to challenge that—together!

Welcome to the Formal Poetry Directory, compiled and curated by Brooklyn Crane on Scheming Rhymes! Haiku, tanka, sonnets, villanelles, ghazals; rhyme, meter, rhythm. All those things seemingly lost in the age of Instapoetry and the thought of “I don’t do traditional poetry because it’s too square”—clustered in one page for you to read, week by week.

For this first issue, because we are still gathering writers, a few works from past weeks will be included to showcase what the intended result for this project is. Please share so that it reaches newer voices who need the exposure. This is not an elitist club but a celebration, and everyone is invited!

My most sincere gratitude to, in alphabetical order, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and ; for writing these pieces and carrying our traditions forth through time. I claim no credit for their works.

Antistrophe.

Also epistrophe or epiphora. The successive repetition of a word or phrase at the end of lines or clauses.

Helen Higgins

Poetry: You. You. You.

You wake, and the morning already belongs to you.The coffee cools while I memorise the weather of you.Every question I ask bends back like a hook to you.Every story I start gets corrected toward you. The mirror reflects your face in every pane: you.The radio sings backup to the anthem of you…

3 months ago · 52 likes · 10 comments · Helen Higgins

Ballad - short, ABCB pattern.

A quatrain (four-line stanzas or sections) where only every second and fourth lines rhyme with each other.

Iron Paul's Substack

"The Exodus"

Behold! Here comes the exodus…

3 months ago · 3 likes · Iron Paul

Poems for Persons of Interest

Thursday, Winter

Thursday, Winter…

3 months ago · 6 likes · Alex Rettie

Counterpoint.

A positioning of two stanzas or passages side by side so that lines from one continue on to the next, forming a new idea or adding a different perspective to both works.

Wyrd Incantations

Broken-Hearted Counterpoint

First, you writhe, unable to move…

3 months ago · 44 likes · 11 comments · Ana Cristina Caelen

Couplet.

A stanza or section of a stanza constituted by two lines that rhyme.

Kelly Trost

CONSOLATION

We feel your loss each morning and your memory we share as our spirits touch each other for we sense you yet aware. Then later, still together, afternoons are bitter-sweet. We honor your young life this day, wish life would death unseat. Birds in song, dogs at play, light streams through the glass. Tears we spill for care and loss do not our love s…

3 months ago · 36 likes · 38 comments · Kelly Trost

Eldridge’s Substack

Eternal Flame

## Eternal Flame…

3 months ago · 20 likes · 10 comments · 🥰Eldridge Brown 🥰

T.B.Talks

The Poem That Wouldn’t Scan

The poem that wouldn’t scan has just begun It wrote itself before but came undone Deleted are the words that wouldn’t rhyme And now my fingers dance to keep in time A tuneful rhythm plays inside my head In hope that soon it soothes me off to bed A sleep filled night is calling all the while So full of dreams that soon will me beguile And waltz me off to…

3 months ago · 13 likes · 10 comments · Tony Burkinshaw

Ekphrastic poetry.

From Greek ekphrasis, meaning description. A work of poetry that describes usually a piece of visual media.

The Poetic Pause 🌄

Wicked This Way Comes

Crouched upon a precipice…

3 months ago · 83 likes · 63 comments · Andrea 🌄

Haiku.

A three-line stanza or section which, in English, is comprised of 5, 7, and 5 syllables per line respectively.

Gary L Taylor

Haikus from a seven year old

I’ve had the day off work today and as my daughter is off school this week, we have had a family trip to the cinema today and a game of bowling, before some lunch, with just her, my wife and I…

3 months ago · 39 likes · 29 comments · Gary L Taylor

Elyzabreath Deepening

Writer's Block Haiku: VII-XII

VII. I release pressure…

3 months ago · 10 likes · 5 comments · Elyza-Breath Blooming (E.B.B.)

Ionic Meter.

Predominantly used in Greek literature. The use of two unstressed syllables followed by two stressed syllables to form a metric foot, and vice versa.

Scheming Rhymes

Suddenly Too Young.

This poem and its composition lesson are written loving memory of my grandmother, who passed away at the beginning of February, just days before her birthday. Thank you for everything—for the trips, the happy memories, and all the knowledge you gave me from the day I was born…

3 months ago · 11 likes · 5 comments · Brooklyn Crane

Quatrain.

A stanza of four lines, rhyming in ABAB, ABBA, AAAA, or any derivatives where all lines rhyme.

philip flip’s Substack

Privilege of Age

All For One, Boston 1975 www.flipphotog.com…

3 months ago · 2 likes · 4 comments · philip flip collier

Sestina.

Porch Sparrow Editorial

September 9, 2015: A Sestina

Sestina: “A complex French verse form, usually unrhymed, consisting of six stanzas of six lines each and a three-line envoi. The end words of the first stanza are repeated in a different order as end words in each of the subsequent five stanzas; the closing envoi contains all six words, two per line, placed in the middle…

3 months ago · 7 likes · 1 comment · Ani Beeler

Sonnet - quatorzain.

The Quiet Hour Poet

A sonnet for a lost sun.

3 months ago · 68 likes · 23 comments · The Quiet Hour Poet

My MilYou

Beauty in the "Ugly"

The rotting log that splits beneath the rain…

3 months ago · 22 likes · 19 comments · Josh

A Writer’s Voice

Sonnet: Queen of the Underworld

She gathered crocus light in tender hands, when Sicily split wide with iron cry, the meadow broke beneath unseen commands, torn from Demeter’s breast, she could not fly. Black-maned and sovereign, not a mindless brute, Hades rose crowned in adamantine night, his chariot drank the meadow at its root, and innocence went under out of sight. In asphodel…

3 months ago · 6 likes · 3 comments · A Writer’s Voice

Please follow and support each other. Check out everyone’s work and other posts. We are all making an effort to preserve the roots and traditions of poetry while experiencing the world and capturing our experiences in verse. The only way we keep our niche alive is to face the future together. -B.