I’m back on track this week with a prompt based on an entry in the next section of the poetry dictionary and the normal seven paint chips, randomly selected, to work with. We are in the R section and there were a lot of great options to choose from and I had a hard time deciding. I finally settled on a short poetry form called the rondelet, which John Drury defines as follows:
RONDELET (ron-deh-lay’; French, “little rondel”) A form consisting of seven lines, with a refrain and only two rhymes. The rhyme and refrain scheme is AbAabbA (capital A = refrain). The refrain lines (A) each contain four syllables; the other lines (a and b) each contain eight syllables.
the poetry dictionary, pg. 263.
The Challenge
Your challenge is to write a rondelet using one of the paint chip words or phrases as part of your refrain. You can use however many of the other words and phrases as you want in the other lines.
The paint chip words and phrases you have to choose from are firefly, zephyr, fig leaf, key lime, night, rainstorm, and cabin in the woods.
Obviously that last phrase won’t work for the refrain because it is more than four syllables. To add to the challenge, I want the title of your poem to be that final paint chip: cabin in the woods.
My Poem
Cabin in the Woods Watch a firefly Just after the drenching rainstorm Watch a firefly Lighting up the darkest night sky Maybe one or a perfect swarm Beauty in creation's art form Watch a firefly
Your Turn
Now it’s your turn to write a rondelet about a cabin in the woods. It might be a real cabin you recall or an imaginary cabin. Don’t forget to use one of the paint chip words as part of your refrain. Post your poem in the comments, or post it on your blog and drop a link in the comments. I look forward to reading all your wonderful rondelets