Plea for Guidance

I want to find my way
Past the prophets and soothsayers
I want to see a light
Burning from on high
I want to find the truth
Yet I am lost in a fog
Stranded in the desert
I have followed blindly
Now I seek my sight
But find it out of reach
I am adrift in a sea
Without a gust of wind
To point the way or to guide
I wait, I pray
For some guidance, some day

Joleen

I never knew such patience
And such simple forgiveness
Always optimistic with a smile
Never false or pitting on airs
Embracing a stranger
In accepting arms
Welcoming a friend
With joyous songs
Never a discouraging word
A smile and a laugh
That lights up a day
Such a role model
An angel gracing Earth
Dearest friend and guide
You will never leave my heart

Only With You

Only with you. my smile is real
Only with you, I feel comfortable in my own skin
Only with you, I can laugh out loud
Only with you, I am proud to be me
Only with you, I can forget all insecurities
Only with you, I feel loved
Only with you, I can rejoice
Only with you, I want to spend the rest of my life

Extra

In the chorus I stand
A faceless spectator
Moving set piece
Personified background
Never a star

Theatre

Oh to be on stage
To paint a picture
Create a scene
Entertain an audience
Fantasize a while
Pretend for a moment
Capture a mind
Hold a heart
Sing a song
Dance a dance
Speak a line
What a line!
What an art!
Oh, theatre!

Outcast

Sometimes, I feel alone
Separated from all surronders
Even when at my side
I feel they are miles away
A thousand eyes turn to me as one
All I can do is look back
And to wish to be among them
No matter how I try
I cannot blend in
I cannot sink into the crowd
Rejected and outcasted
My smile is painted on
My kind voice quivers
My heart shatters

Rondel - Daydream

Rondel

This is a French form of thirteen lines and is made up of two rhymes. There is a refrain, which is set up by the first two lines of the first stanza. The rhyme pattern is A. B. a. b.. and .a. b. A. B. for the first two stanzas and a quintain for the final stanza that mirrors the first two stanzas, with the last line repeating the first line of the first stanza a. b. b. a. A. It is usually constructed of lines of eight syllalbes.

“Daydream”

Sometimes, I find my eye gazing
Off in space unguided and free
I enter a world amazing
Imagination holds the key

So, so many questions raising
And all answers are up to me
Sometimes, I find my eye gazing
Off in space unguided and free

In this free world I am praising
All my great hidden joy and glee
That I can release so freely
When my mind and heart is blazing
Sometimes, I find my eye gazing

Rondeau - What a Burden

Rondeau

This is a form that is made up of three stanzas: a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet. The first phrase of the first line of the quintet is acts as a refrain and repeated in the final line of the quatrain and the sestet. There is no required meter, though the English form often uses pentameter or tetrameter. The rhyme scheme would be: Ra.a.b.b.a....a.a.b.R....a.a.b.b.a.R.

“What a Burden”

What a burden is this life
That must go on so filled with strife
With endless toiling
And all souls spoiling
Each day cutting like a knife

Where each day is filled with hatred rife
And so happiness is felt by husband or wife
With thoughts so cruel and boiling
What a burden

Yet, I beg you, do not give up on this life
We shall not all end like Lot’s wife
One day, we will rise up from this foiling
We shall no longer be spoiling
What a burden

Rime Royal - When Pondering

This is a stanza form that is believed to be of Italian origin. It is thought to be a variation of the Otta Rima with the removal of the final line, leaving the structure to be a seven line stanza of three rhymes: a.b.a.b.b.c.c.

“When Pondering”

When you are wandering
Past the known world
And you find yourself pondering
With thoughts whirled
And begin to feel your mind unfurled
Do not feel bemoan
For you are not alone

Limerick - Sight o're a Hill

Little Suzzie climbed up a hill
To see if she could see more than nill.
She cried out in delight
For she saw a grand sight:
The other side of the hill.

Rime Couee - Cut Short

This is a two rhyme poem that originated in France. It begins with a rhyming couplet of eight syllables followed by a line of six syllables. It then repeats to make a structure as shown:

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.a.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.a.
x.x.x.x.x.b.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.a.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.a.
x.x.x.x.x.b.

“Cut Short”

Sweetest blossom, growing taller
Is this lone life all you thought her?
Do you hunger for more?
Withering blossom, shrink smaller
Take peace, think of how you once were
Think how you were before

Quatern - Tears

As the name suggests, this is a French form made up of four four line stanzas. There is a repeated refrain, much like the various French forms, but there is not specific rhyme. There are eight syllables per line, but there is not meter. The Refrain is the first line of the first stanza, which becomes the second line of the second stanza, the third line of the third stanza and finally the last line of the last stanza.

“Tears”

I cannot help but cry my tears
For now you have left me alone
To walk this world isolated
To be only half of a whole

In deepest sorrow, misery
I cannot help but cry my tears
Loosing you was my greatest fear
And now I am forced to face it

With loud shouts and terrible moans
I weep and shake in such distress
I cannot help but cry my tears
And cry you name forevermore

Though they say the pain will soon fade
And in my heart I know you would
Wish only to see me happy
I cannot help but cry my tears

Pathya Vat - Stay

This is a southeast Asian form with a short syllable count. There are four lines of four syllables and lines two and form rhyme.

x.x.x.x.
x.x.x.a.
x.x.x.a
x.x.x.x.

“Stay”

Please, do not stray
My heart you hold
Twas you I told
My love, so dear

Pantoum - Dreams in Sleep

Pantoum

This was originally a Malaysian form, but was later adapted by the French. The rhyme pattern is as follows; A1, B1, A2, B2, ... B1, C1, B2, C2, etc, the last stanza being Z1, A2, Z2, A1, note the reversal of the final repeat couplet thus completing the circle. There is not set meter or length.

“Dreams in Sleep”

May you find rest in sleep
Let sweet dreams lead you
Quiet peace you keep
May each dream come true

Let sweet dreams lead you
Let your imagination fly
May each dream come true
For life so quickly passes by

Let your imagination fly
In sleepy slumber slow
For life so quickly passes by
Greatest happiness may you know

In sleepy slumber slow
May you find rest in sleep
Greatest happiness may you know
Quiet peace you keep

Ottava Rima - Prayer for Spring

Ottava Rima

This is quiet simply a Sicilian sestet with a couplet. However, it has been found to be more popular than the Sicilian octave among most poets. It has no set meter and the rhyeme scheme would be: a.b.a.b.a.b.c.c

“Prayer for Spring”

Winter woes fade away
For the time is coming near
For spring to come I pray
Hear those birds, my dear?
Oh let today be the day
For another snowfall I so fear
Oh spring, please do call
How I dread another snowfall

Horatian Ode - Ode to Distraction

Horatian Ode

This ode is named for the Latin poet Horace. It is a short lyric poem of quatrains made up of couplets.

"Ode to Distaction"

Sing to me my dearest one
Distract me from the day now done
For night does shine upon us
And I need to pretend we will not just be dust

Sing to me songs of joy and hope
Allow me a way to cope
And leave my sorrows behind
Oh please sing and be kind

Pretend with me we have endless days
Pretend this difficult life is not a maze
But a pretty path, long and clear
Oh please sing to me, dear

Set down your work and come to my side
Sing to me and be my guide
Through this constantly dwelling life
Please sing and quiet my strife

Just a moment, just a while
Give me a reason to smile
And forget my tiring woes
And raise me from such lows

Pray your song raise me high
So when I wish this fair world good bye
I may be happy and at peace
Or if be impossible, I will have your song, at least

English Ode - Ode to the Cat of War

This ode consists of three ten line iambic pentameter stanzas. The rhyme scheme is: a. b. a. b. c. d. e. c. d. e.

“Ode to the Cat of War”

Kitten prancing, pouncing about the room
Why must you glide and move so very fast
Jumping about all day will be your doom
And yet with no mind, you have such a blast
You run, run here and there without a care
Purring, crying, meowing all the way
Like a tyrant over little kingdom
With little thought you have no fear, you dare
Oh what a silly, dizzy game you play
I shall sit and wait, wait till you are done

Kitten flying, run, running all around
Surely, yes, you must be tiring now
Crying out and making such big, loud sound
What grand chaos you do cause and allow
Clawing at furniture, table and chair
Knocking over glass,china, vase and lamp
Spilling food, juice, tea, and drinking water
You cause me such great anger and despair
How you make me want to scream, shout, and stamp
You have made the room look like grand slaughter

Kitten rolling on the ground and purring
Rubbing read and body across my feet
Walking away and then so returning
Like an annoying bird you chirp and tweet
I push you away and ignore your cries
No, I will not cuddle nor pet nor brush
No matter how long you do cry and purr
Refusing to give into greedy lies
Yet soon, my anger you do sooth and crush
I give in, hold you close, and pet your fur

Pindaric Ode - Ode to the Stuffy

This ode is written in accentual-syllabic verse and is named for the ancient Greek poet Pindar, who is credited with inventing the ode. The stanza length and rhyme scheme are determined by the poet. They contain a formal opening, or strophe, of complex metrical structure, followed by an antistrophe, which mirrors the opening, and an epode, the final closing section of a different length and composed with a different metrical structure.

“Ode to the Stuffy”

Dance with me and forget the world
Come onstage, pretend awhile
Let reality fade, unfurl
Your mind and begin to smile

This is a new revolution
Moder Renaissance beginning
Of hope and joy, disillusion
Join all the people grinning

Let loose
Let go
Give life a boost
And now you know

Novelinee - Eighteen

This is a form based off the Spenserian stanza and was created by Sarah Rayburn. It is a nine line stanza written in iambic pentameter or decasyllablic lines. The rhyme scheme is : a.b.a.b.c.d.c.d.d.

“Eighteen”

I am becoming a woman of age.
I have just but turned eighteen today, so
Now I am forced to prance about onstage
Like some prized cow at a county fair. Oh!
But to be simple seventeen again
And hide away in shadows forgotten
I’d love to find myself carefree and zen
Yet, now my lost childhood has rotten
My adulthood now newly begotten

Monchielle Stanza - "I Toil Over Words"

This stanza was created by Norwegian poet, Jim T. Henriksen. It is made up of four five line stanzas and each line has six syllables. The first line of each stanza is the same. Lines three and five rhyme. The structure would be:

xxxxxxA
xxxxxxb
xxxxxxc
xxxxxxd
xxxxxxc
xxxxxxe
ect.

“I Toil Over Words”

I toil over words
On pages of old books
Looking for the answers
Of the long asked questions
To hold off advancers

I toil over words
In newspaper and lines
Trying to find good news
In such hard, trying times
But never get pasted views
Opposing opinions

I toil over words
Of passing and people
Listening for sad cries
Beneath convincing smiles
I try to pass the lies

I toil over words
That flow from my old pen
Looking for some meaning
In all the work I’ve done
For something redeeming
Before my life has run

Luc Bat - Laughter

This is a Vietnamese form of poetry that was inspired by the French. Luc Bat translates to “six eight”, which outlines the structure of the poem. The odd lines (1,3,5,etc) are six sound units and the even lines (2,4,6 etc) are eight sound units long, hence the title. The rhyming scheme is simple also. The last word (sixth sound unit) of the odd lines rhymes with the sixth sound unit of the even line and the eighth sound unit rhymes with the sixth unit of the next odd line. The final even line, linking back to the first line. The structure is:

xxxxxa
xxxxxaxb
xxxxxb
xxxxxbxc
xxxxxc
xxxxxcxa

“Laughter”

Little laugh trills so light
Like bell ringing in nighttime lone
The speaker’s face unknown
In darkness can’t be shown, revealed
Twinkling stars have concealed
Till grand morning does yeild bright light

Long Measure - Advice for Your Heart

This is a variation of Common Measure, and consists of three rhymes of iambic tetrameter, (4 feet). This gives a suggested pattern of:

xxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxb
xxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxc

“Advice for Your Heart”

Give not heart to simple pleasure
For it is not worth the deep pain
Your heart is your greatest treasure
And must be saved for better days

Limerick - Fear of a Toad

This is a poem that is often tells a light and humorous story. The original pattern is a five line stanza, but there have been the occasional four line stanza. Traditionally the first and fifth line end in the same word. The rhyme is: a.a.b.b.a.

“Fear of a Toad”

Little Suzie walked down the road
Where she did happened to find a toad
She gave a grand shout
And soon did black out
And the little toad hopped right down the road

Virelai - Alone

This is an adaptation of the Lai. It is made up of two stanzas. The first stanza is the exact copy of the lai, having a five syllable couplet followed by a two syllable line. The second stanza then switches the rhymes’ order. The structure would be:

xxxxa
xxxxa
xb
xxxxa
xxxxa
xb
xxxxa
xxxxa
xb

xxxxb
xxxxb
xa
xxxxb
xxxxb
xa
xxxxb
xxxxb
xa

“Alone”

Love gone so far way
To return some day
Unknown
How I wish he’d stay
And in my bed lay
Soft moan
When spring comes in May
He’ll come back I pray
Atone

My heart not disown
Don’t leave me alone
Decay
Return to me grown
Far from heart of stone
Dismay
Strong and weather blown
Your selfishness sloan
One day

Lai Nouveau - Sun Shines

This is a more difficult version of the Lai. It is constructed like the lie having a five syllable couplet followed by a two syllable line, but only has an eight line stanza. The fist two lines are a refrain and are used as the last line of the verse in reverse order. The structure is:

xxxxA1
xxxxA2
xb
xxxxa
xxxxa
xb
xxxxA2
xxxxA1

"Sun Shines"

How the sun shines down
On Earth’s shinning crown.
Stunning.
Draping golden gown
Over hill and town
Stunning.
On Earth’s shinning crown
How the sun shines down.

Lai - Noise

This is a very old French form of short verse. It is made up of a five syllable couplet and a two syllable line and repeats twice. The structure is as followed:

xxxxa
xxxxa
xb
xxxxa
xxxxa
xb
xxxxa
xxxxa
xb

“Noise”

Alarm clock rings so
very early. Oh!
Such noise.
Cars on the street low
honking so loud. Oh!
Such noise.
People talk and woe
screaming, howling. Oh!
Such noise.

Kyrielle Sonnet - Small Flower

This is a French sonnet that dates back to the Middle Ages. It is written in quatrains and includes a refrain in the final line of each quatrain. It is written with eight syllables per line (octosyllabic). The rhyme scheme is then: .A. b. a. B.... c. b. c. B..... d. b. d. B.....A.B.

“Small Flower”

How simple is the small flower
Basking in the sun’s happy rays
No reason to hide or cower
How I envy her quiet days

Growing with petty petals high
So carefree, she never dismays
Reaching gracefully to the sky
How I envy her quiet days

Grand, lovely, and so fair is she
Do see how joyfully she sways
Oh! If only that could be me
How I envy her quiet days

How simple is the small flower
How I envy her quiet days

Kyrielle - What Would I See

This is a French form that originated in the Middle Ages. It is written in two quatrains, which share the final line as a refrain. It is written with eight syllables per line and the rhyme scheme is as followed: a. a. b. B..... c. c. b. B.

“What Would I See”

If I was to rise up so high
To servery the world low that lie
What would I see that would me please?
What would I see in lands of these?

Would I see man helping man or
Would I see hatred at our deep core?
What is it in life that hold the keys?
What would I see in lands of these?