Week 3-2

What is formal poetry?

I mean, we're looking
down on Wayne's basement, but that
is not Wayne's basement.

Is it a haiku?

However, the philosophy of haiku has been preserved: the focus on a brief moment in time; a use of provocative, colorful images; an ability to be read in one breath; and a sense of sudden enlightenment.

The Academy of American Poets

• "The cry of the cicada"
• "Blues Haiku"
• "Haiku Ambulance"
• "5 & 7 & 5"

A poetic form has set rules for the shape of the poem, e.g.:

• line lengths
• stanza lengths
• set rhythm
• rhyme schemes
• required inclusions

In groups of 3-4, invent your own poetic form.

For next class, each of us should write an example of our new form and bring it to class (on paper!).