#30/365 Metaverses' Common Routine
January Challenge - An Almanack of Poems
A long, big sigh follows the chair's,
As wheels relax beneath ;
The earbuds stop the noise upstairs,
I take away their sheath.
Then open Chrome on my two screens,
Caressing mouse with hand ;
The blinking time in corner means,
It's later than I planned.
A poem can have many styles,
For choosing one that's new ;
I scroll and browse the links and files,
That I have chosen few.
Then scanning ideas I wrote,
Explore exciting seeds ;
Deciding on a graceful quote,
that matches all my needs.
I need to have the meter tight,
Syllable count/ is king ;
And rhyming sounds increase delight,
It makes the readers sing.
Sometimes it's hard to find the word,
Given poetic flow ;
Synonym sites are thus referred,
When writing's getting slow.
I open all these tabs for aid,
and dictionary too ;
As rhymes and lines are poured and made,
Implying something true.
I add my name at very end,
Following countless drafts ;
Publishing's tough I won't pretend,
Yet part of all the crafts.
In Jan this was routine of mine,
In challenge oh so fun ;
Sometimes it's rain sometimes it's shine,
But every day I learn.
#30/365 | Jan : Almanack of Poems✍ - If you read these descriptions, one of my goals is also to educate you in poetry (& more) - nuances, styles & all!
About the poem :
Time Taken : ~3.5 hrs final version
Written : Jan 2022
Poem Type : Standard ballad in common meter
A ballad is a type of poem that tells a story and was traditionally set to music. English language ballads are typically composed of four-line stanzas that follow an ABCB rhyme scheme.
This also uses iambic feet. In English writing, rhythm is measured by groups of syllables called “feet.” Iambic meter uses a type of foot called an “iamb,” which is a short, unstressed syllable followed by a longer, stressed syllable.
Though the majority of ballads use iambs as their main foot, there is no specific meter required for a ballad. This means that while one ballad might use common meter (and many do), another ballad might use a different sort of meter. Generally speaking, ballads have a consistent meter throughout.
Common meter has two key traits: it alternates between lines of eight syllables and lines of six syllables, and it always follows an iambic stress pattern
My Comments :
The poem’s title is of course a pun on it being in common meter. It indeed became my routine in January to open the various resources in different tabs/ windows.
Fom syllable counter to rhyming word finders, internet tools have helped me tremendously. i don’t consider them cheating just how using fire to cook is not cheating - they are merely tools.
I felt it would be “poetic” to write a poem about writing - it would be META writing. Also referred to as “verse,” poetry is a genre of literature that consists of writing that is arranged into lines that often follow a pattern of rhythm, rhyme, or both.
The three main types of poetry are:
1) Formal verse: Poetry with a strict meter (rhythmic pattern) and rhyme scheme (pattern of rhyming).
2) Blank verse: Poetry with a strict meter but no rhyme scheme.
3) Free verse: Poetry without any strict meter or rhyme scheme.
As such the usage of metaverse was very fitting in the title, ewsp given it’s recent popularity in other contexts.
And as I mention towards the end of the poem, I did indeed learn a lot in this journey and discovered amazing tools created by people which are FREE to use!
Another such awesome tool was a site that laid down a list of words that were in iambic feet meter - given how many words are not even usable in a poem with such a meter, it was a godsend, even though one needs to have fairly good vocab to attempt such a poem.
The link to this is also given in the resources.
Resources to learn more about this poem and context [clicks clickable only on blog post] :
About common meter
Understanding iambic meter
Iambic meter word list
Read on!