Fireflies, Part 4: Playing Around with Poetry

Whenever I'm asked or inspired to write poetry about a particular topic, there are a few short forms that I often play with to get my synapses firing. They each have their own constraints, and it is a fun puzzle to write within them. So, here are examples of all three from the last week of fireflies. :)

Haiku
A traditionally Japanese form, haiku has 3 lines with 5-7-5 syllables. They usually involve a juxtaposition of two subjects with focus on nature or seasons.

Dancing in darkness

A lightbulb flickers off

The firefly unseen

Limerick
A 5-line poem with an AABBA rhyme scheme, where the 3rd and 4th lines are usually shorter. The meter is mostly anapestic (duh-duh-DAH). Often humorous, sometimes bawdy, it arose in 18th century England.

Our love letters used to be mail 

Sent at speeds seeming slow as a snail. 

Now as fast as we think, 

Like a firefly’s blink, 

We can send light-speed text and email! 

Acrostic
A literary form where the first letter/word of each line spells out another word or message. This is one of my favorites because when not highlighted, it can be a kind of code.

Falling fairies shower their dust 

In tall grass under taller trees 

Radiant in their summer green 

Ecstasy for the warmest season 

For a longer day and shorter night 

Loving the twilight in between. 

You ever see a firefly in sunlight? 

More Firefly Posts:
Fireflies, Part 1
Fireflies, Part 2
Fireflies, Part 3