Can’t turn a challenge down. Here are some of the consequences.
- Cinquain
- Acrostic
- Haiku
- Diamante
- Tanka
- Definitions
“His Foot”
His foot
stretched wide and flexed,
toes alive, playing games
in tight trainers, eager to please,
to run.
“Muse”
Before land
ranged his sea-storied heart,
ensnared dancing feet with steady
anthems and fence-post church:
Kaliope conjured love with spells,
doused promise with heroic truth –
onward, always onward,
worshipped and feared –
never sure, never more alive.
“Acaustic”
How
are we spotted
rubes, mediocre moles,
rheumatics, lazy-eyes, to
yearn advance rebel
strike against earth’s gross design,
this festered indignity, when
you, unaware,
lay on a couch,
eye your stunning
sex, and smile?
“The Swimmers”
Gulping skin each stroke –
nipples toes pits thighs pubis –
team-flavored cocktail.
“Apartment”
Shadowed carpet, stained
dark baseboards hiding behind
stacked silent pages,
dusty lamplight warms marred paint
and softens the wizened cat.
“Diamond Strong”
Dom’s property
stood at muscular attention,
steel thighs licked by ugly men
gorging on their chance good luck,
asking permission from the
balding old man holding the
leash of the impenetrable sub.
Definitions.
An acrostic: first letter of each line spells a word.
A cinquain: five lines of climbing syllables (2/4/6/8/2).
A diamante: seven lines. Begin with a noun. End with its opposite.
Haiku: three lines at 5/7/5
Tanka: haiku’s older sister; five lines at 5/7/5/7/7
Greg Beckman 