Today’s prompt encouraged us to try one of two syllable stressed forms: the shadorma, or the Fib.

The shadorma is a six-line, 26-syllable poem (or a poem made up of multiple shadorma stanzas). The syllable count by line is 3/5/3/3/7/5. So, like the haiku, the lines are relatively short. The origins of this form are not readily known.

The second syllabic form is much more forthright about its recent origins. Like the shadorma, the Fib is a six-line form. But now, the syllable count is based off the Fibonacci sequence of 1/1/2/3/5/8. You can link multiple Fibs together into a multi-stanza poem, or even start going backwards after your first six lines, with syllable counts of 8/5/3/2/1/1.

Always wanting to break out of the stereotype box, I wrote a poem that included both forms. Not sure if this is “ok” or “against the rules”, but I don’t care. Writing it was a blast!

Mysteries

1.
Demanding
never seems to bring
the relief
of knowing ;
the answers I seek elude 
the grasping of hands.

2.
But sit still
and the answers come
unbidden
unannounced
resting in my open hands:
the wisdom I seek.

3.
I 
don’t
wonder
why these things
are happening now:
now is the time for everything.

4.
Now is the time for everything:
open your clenched fists
quietly 
to the
dark
night.


—draft poems by Carla Jeanne Picklo Jordan

Let me know what you think in the comments below. Share the love, write a poem, appreciate a good friend. Each moment is a new beginning.