Post Zombie Prom and Check-in...

Tyburn: a six line poem consisting of 2, 2, 2, 2, 9, 9 syllables. The first four lines rhyme and are all descriptive words. The last two lines rhyme and incorporate the first, second, third, and fourth lines as the 5th through 8th syllables.

This is NOT an easy form. Granted it is my first time trying this form. So, I will write a second poem in a form that I am more comfortable also.

Theatrical Flow

Mic Checks

Places

Spotlights

Are Now

To the stage for Mic Checks, Places called--

When the moment spotlights are now trawled.

Tetractys: 5 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 syllables. A Double Tetractys is 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10, 4, 3, 2, 1. And triple Tetractys is 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 10.

Therical Flow V.2

Stage

the show

begins now

curtains open

hear the music play, as the story is

given life by the actors, in movement--

Just another day...

another show

we do

this.

Which do you prefer, Dear Readers? I am partial to the second, as it feels more like me. The Tyburn was an interesting time, but I am not thrilled with the end. The concept is what I what, but I cannot seem to find the right word combo that rhymes. Maybe it still works. Any suggestions on word choice, Dear Readers? Leave me some love and let me know...I'm curious what you have to say. I consider all suggestions.

Okay, ROW80 check-in time. It's been a quite weekend on thew writing front. But today is June 1st and the beginning of my 3 month hiatus from theatre (except of VP duties with The Lake Country Players). I am looking forward to coming home after work and working on the house, writing, reading, spending time with friends and family.  I have been so busy the last couple of years that I am surprised I remember any of it.

Zombie Prom has just finished. It was a grand time! I got to reconnect with my KLP family, bond with new and old friends. We made magic! We sung! We danced! We lived! My time at Enrico Fermi High is done, but the memories will live forever. There's the Andrews sisters secretaries in That's the Beat for Me, or playing a Motorwise Guy in Come and Join Us/How Do I Say Goodbye to Love?

As much as the post-show crash hasn't quite hit me yet, I do feel that the world is a little more empty.  The skies are grey (after a much needed day of rain), and the temperature is much cooler, which is leading to the empty feelings, I think. I am spending some time reflecting on the last couple of months. These people of Enrico Fermi High are my family and now that I am not seeing them everyday, I feel lonely. But, I also feel happy. When magic happens you can't feel bad.

So, my check-in this week is starting light, but in truth I need to build up. Thus, I hope that as the week goes on I will; have more to report on.

This Week:
    *Reading: started reading Crispin: The Cross of Lead (Avi). Continue reading and add, Murder in Three Acts (Agatha Christie)
    *Housework: laundry is done and put away dishes on docket to finish tonight.
    *Writing: today's post is the most words written this week, but I have written a number of poems last week, more than one a day some days.

This Week (upcoming): stripping down my goals even further to the bare essentials!
     *Reading:  Crispin and Mirder in Three Acts.
     *Writing: going to try something a little different this week. Write for 30 minutes Tuesday through Friday.
     *Social Media: 4 blogs daily.
     *Submission: 1 this week.

A Round of Words in 80 Days, the blog challenge that knows you have a life. Come over to the Blog Hop for a visit.

What have you been up to this week, Dear Readers? How do you bounce back after being busy with other projects, hobbies, life?

A little promo from the show featuring Eddie Flagrante's Harem, I mean secretaries....

Dark Night Poetry

Tonight is DARK! A theatrical tradition of not rehearsing the night before a show opens. I have always believed that a Dark Night is necessary to the well being of the cast. After rehearsing all during Tech Week, it's a good idea to rest up and focus on the performance to come.

The only problem is that after seven days of rehearsals, so of which were 4+ hours in length, you get used to being around your cast mates. You start feeling lonely and you miss everyone all the time. Like how I feel right now. I wanted dance with my fellow secretaries and motorwise guys. The songs are constantly running through my head. And I am pretty sure that I am dreaming about moving the set around.

Today's poems are a mix bag a little poem about Jonny and Toffee, the leads in Zombie Prom and then a poem about the feelings that come with show time. I found a two new forms on shadowpoetry.com, a Nonet and a Triquain: A nonet has nine lines. The first line has nine syllables, the second line eight syllables, the third line seven syllables, etc... until line nine finishes with one syllable. It can be on any subject and rhyming is optional. 

Somewhere

Somewhere there is a forbidden love
that waits for us at our lockers
gifting to us the treasured
few items that make us
loved by someone else.
And we can hear
their songs, voices
on the
waves.

Then there the Triquain, created by Shelley A. Cephas, is a poem with several creative variences and can be a rhyming or non-rhyming verse. The simpliest form is a poem made up of 7 lines with 3, 6, 9, 12, 9, 6, and 3 syllables in this order. 

The Time Has Come

It is time--

opening night of the 

time we have spent together, singing 

and dancing to our Beat, the one we have pulsing

underneath our skin to the rhythm--

born in our blood and we

are onstage.

If you are in the area, you should come and see Zombie Prom. It's a fun and musical show, with a bit of a moral at the end. Not so much nagging moral, but a life lesson, moral type. Also, the cast is bloody brilliant!! Ginger and Josh want you to come to the Prom!!

A Little More Done...

Shameless Plug

If you are in the area, you should come and see the show!

Yesterday's poems I dedicate to Ramona and Peaches.

The Sedoka is an unrhymed poem made up of two three-line katauta with the following syllable counts: 5/7/7, 5/7/7. A Sedoka, pair of katauta as a single poem, may address the same subject from differing perspectives. A katauta is an unrhymed three-line poem the following syllable counts: 5/7/7.

For Him Alone

When she sings her song
it's for him alone, the heart
aches without knowing quite why.

Determined to beat
the one other soul who quests
for Jonny's own desire.

The Mini Me

When told of the plan

to study and lengthen minds

she finds a solid purpose.

As an underling

she sees much more of the school

making way to the future.

And then for today I wrote poems for some of the fellow students of Enrico Fermi High, Hunny, Cookie, and Jamie. A Tanka is a classic form of Japanese poetry related to the haiku with five unrhymed lines of five, seven, five, seven, and seven syllables (5, 7, 5, 7, 7).

Not Just Scenery

we two, rule the school
though in the back most often
together we are
foundations of Enrico Fermi
pushing along the wheeled walls.

Not Just a Nerd

A student am I

with bowties so cool to wear

please don't tell that it's

a clip on, or busted by the

one Strictly fair principal.

Quick update. Zombie Prom starts Friday and I am tired, sore, and filled with joy. So, what I have is hard earned during tech week rehearsals. Definitely more intense tech week than I have ever had. Had rehearsals everyday since last Thursday. Yeah, lots of rehearsing and shows Friday and Saturday. This is my Wednesday check-in....

This Week:

     *Reading: almost finished with Meet the Austins (Madeleine L'Engle).

     *Social Media: visited 4 blogs today and 4 for Tuesday. That's really it.

     *Writing: wrote daily poems for Zombie Prom characters. Not posting everyday, but at least writing daily, or every other day. Good promotion for the show and practice writing: Cinquains, Quinzaine, Sedokas, and what not.

     *Theatre Stuffs: ZOMBIE PROM!

     *Housework Stuffs: Laundry!

Next Week (upcoming):

     *Reading: Crispin (Avi).

     *Writing: MOAR poetry, blog posts, and flash fiction.

     *Housework: dishes and vacuuming. Maybe stem cleaning the carpets. Maybe.

     *Editing: Maybe. More later.

     *Submissions: Maybe. More later.

     *Social Media: keep it up, 4 blogs daily. 

A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you have a life. It is also a Blog Hop. Come in and set a spell!

CInquians, a Quizaine, and Pantoums (oh my)!

A few days behind on my Zombie Prom inspired poems, but the rehearsals have made the days full and long. Mind you, this has been some of the best days of the month, but I have come home after 6.5 and 4.5 hour rehearsals to have only enough energy to eat and shower before passing out. I am not complaining. Spending time with one of my other families is just as important, even when the 6.5 hour rehearsal ends and then some of us go and spend 3 hours at a BK talking, eating, and forming the family tree that connects all the characters in the show. Good times!

What are you doing this fine month of May, Dear Readers? I am doing a show called Zombie Prom and if you are in the area of Bath, NY come and check us out (see the sexy poster created by Anna-Beth Wheaton).

But, I did promise that I would writes some poems for this show. Zombie Prom is a really good show. We have an amazing cast. Oh, and a fellow theatre friend got the chance to perform this show in NYC for Samuel French  a couple of years ago (I think that's right. Manley, if you read this, please correct me if I am wrong. BTW, Manley a pretty talented and awesome kid performing in a junior players production of RENT. Check out Dream Barn Productions for more information.)

Today's fare is for Saturday, Sunday, and good ol' Memorial Day. Without spoilers I present six cinquains for the teenagers: Ginger, Coco, Candy, Joey, Jake, and Josh. Cinquains, for those of you who don't know, are five lines poems that do not rhyme, but have a syllabic meter of  2-4-6-8-2. Shadow Poetry is a great poet's resource.

Leader
most dramatic
as wholly serious
yet she has a sweet side deep down,
Ginger

Baton

it's a Big Deal

and it's what she spends time

it's her thing that makes her special,

Coco

Nervous
she talks about
biting her nails to stubs
prom is always on her radar,
Candy

Excited

one thing is on

his mind, the joys of large

fruit, it's a teenager thing,

Joey

Loyal
willing to stand
to defend his friendship
he who idolizes Jonny,
Jake-y

Big Break

has a nose for

the news, daily beat, time

to break open the big story,

Josh-y

Sunday's poem is for Sheila. she gets a Quinzaine, a three line poem made up of 15 syllable with the syllabic meter of 7-5-3, that asks question of the original statement.

For Sheila... (Math Nerds)

Math nerds can be journalists--

A nerdy writer?

Can I be?

And for today, I wrote a pantoum. Yeah, Dear Readers, if you didn't already know I LOVE pantoums. My favourite of the poetic forms for it's repetition of lines and song-like quality to the lines. While not an easy form to write as to have to remember that the end of the poem, the last stanza uses the third and first lines of the first stanza to complete the poem's picture. Today, I salute my fellow chorus members.

Sing Chorus, Sing

We of the chorus--

singing out loud and proud

across the stage we dance

in grapevines and twirls.

Singing out loud and proud

it's what we do

in grapevines and twirls

to complete the tableau.

It's what we do

memorize whole songs

to complete the tableau

in the story upon the stage.

Memorize whole songs

that we only sing for a minute

in the story upon the stage

otherwise we are moving the scenery.

That we only sing for a minute

doesn't bother us at all

Otherwise we are moving the scenery

building stronger muscles all the while.

Doesn't bother us at all

because it's what we love

building stronger muscles all the while

and being a part of something greater.

Because it's what we love

singing out loud and proud

and being a part of something greater

--we are the chorus.

Also, Dear Readers, my ROW80 check-in from Sunday. A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you have a life. It's a Blog Hop. So, come on over and visit for a spell!

This Week (this past):

     *Reading: I finished The Trailmen of Xunar-Kun: Book 2 in the Tellings of Xunar-Kun (Tina Field Howe). The books ended on a higher note, maybe a little slow to start, with more exposition-y stuff to start off with. But, it more than made up for it with characters and decent plot for the second half of the book.

     *Theatre Stuff: rehearsals for Zombie Prom. That is really all this weekend has been, but it's been some very good. The technical stuff: lights, scene changes and songs are really coming along. I personally feel very strong about many of my scenes. There is one scene that I need to bash out my choreography out. It will get there though. Show is Friday and Saturday.

     *Writing: I wasn't very determined the last two days, but even then I was making progress. See, before Saturday I was writing a poem a day since Wednesday. I still have written, it was just over the last three days of write actually happened today. I also tried really hard to write real poems, not just writing a poem in two minutes. I took thought and time Dear Readers, especially with the cinquains of the teenagers. Goal still set at writing daily (when possible).

     *Social Media: I managed to visit fellow bloggers during the week except Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Still keeping the goal at 4 blogs daily.

This week (upcoming and going keep it simple for Tech Week):

      *Reading: start Meet the Austins (Madeleine L'Engle) and Crispin (Avi). Time for some lighter reading.

      *Writing: Write a poem a day for Zombie Poem, also see above.

      *Editing/Submissions: this week will be a test to see if I can get to this goals finally.

      *Social Media: 4 blogs daily everyday.

      *Blogging: Plan to start "Road Trip A through Z".

Zombie Haiku

Tonight's poetic fare is some haiku about the Core 4 of Zombie Prom. Haiku are short three line poems using the 5-7-5 syllable meter to tell a story within that small bit. It's a form that I really like and it is not always easy to keep the thoughts concise enough for 5-7-5. But somewhere in the middle of crazy lengthy epic poems, it is nice to have a simple thought or concept tell a whole story. I took the 4 main characters and wrote haiku for each of them: Toffee, Miss Strict, Jonny, Eddie.

If you know that show, care to wager on who is represented in what haiku?

If not, are you curious for more?

Tomorrow (Saturday the 6 main teenagers will get cinquains written for them. Come back and see Ginger, Coco, Candy, Josh, Joey, Jake get their own poems. 

Enjoy tonight poems, Dear Readers! And come to the show May 29th and 30th. :-)

Getting the story

Telling the "truth" to the world

It's the beat I seek.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Making the rules count
Running school like a machine--
harder to the core.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having all the love

Is worth more than the leather.

Will prove he is true.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The luckiest girl
And is the saddest one too.
For her choice to make.

Zombie Poetry: Rules, Regulations, and Poetry?

A little Zombie Prom poetry to inspire as we prepare for the next week and a half of rehearsals and a show next Friday and Saturday.

This is an Oddquain, the name is as odd as any I have come across. An oddquain is a 5 line poem, unrhyming lines, but with a meter of 1-3-5-7-1. There are several style of oddquains that use additional lines and or different patterns. Below is what is called a Butterfly Oddquain that uses the meter pattern of 1-3-5-7-1-7-5-3-1, it is also called a Mirrored Oddquain. Something about rules and respect that sometimes people forget (and no spoilers).

To Follow the Rules

Rules--

you play by

the regulations

situated by Strict law.

Respect,

something asked for, not always

repaid in kind though

sometimes is

--Jonny.

Zombie Poetry and Finding Rhythm...

What a Story

This is one tale

of a girl and a boy--

when under desk they’ll

meet, and smiles are their joy.

Of a girl and a boy,

set in high school days,

under someone’s Strict ploy

they find are the prey.

When under desk they’ll

be the point of focus

of a war, full-scale,

made into a fracas.

Meet, and smiles are their joy,

when it is all about

prom and a single boy,

also morals to tout?

The last day before the final week plus of Zombie Prom rehearsals. I thought that I hadn't really written poetry about the play, rehearsals, and all the other stuff that comes with Zombie Prom. They are plenty of times I talked about The Mousetrap or 24 Hour Theatre, even Aesop's Foibles. Zombie Prom is no different, yet it is ALL ABOUT TEH DIFFERENT. It's a musical! It's comedy!! It's social commentary?!?!?

One thing I am good at, that I am sure, of is poetry. I can write it and sometimes it is even good. today's venture is a Quadrilew and one I discovered during NaPoWriMo. A poem of 4 stanzas, rhyme scheme of abab, and each stanza uses a line from the first stanza. Without giving anything away, I present a Quadrilew about Zombie Prom.

Used rhymer.com, thesaurus.com, shadowpoetry.com to write this one when I needed a bit of help. 

A ROW80 update~

This Week (I did better):

    *Reading: The Trailmen of Xunar-Kun: Book 2 in the Tellings of Xunar-Kun (Tina Field Howe), not Alysa of the Fields. It's more like a slow romp through exposition. Finally am getting to the interesting bits. It  has fallen into the second novel slump. There characters are all interesting, but it could move quicker. I shouldn't be in a rush as the third book doesn't exist yet, but it going well. About halfway through.

going lie, I am quite absorbed. It's not the faster pace story of the

    *Writing: Wrote a poem today. w00t! First poem since NaPoWriMo. Also, I wrote poetry to my friend through gmail chat this afternoon, some haiku and a  little parody piece.

    *Social media: I visited Kait Nolan's blog today, that is one. Will try to get to at least 3 more blogs. Getting better and returning to my normal pattern of internet stuff.

    *Theatre Stuff: rehearsal with the Secretaries and the Motorwise Guys. Full rehearsals begin tomorrow (Thrusday). The show goes up May 29th in Bath, NY at Haverling High School's auditorium.

 This Week (when not at rehearsal):

      *Reading: finish The Trailmen... Start meet the Austins (Madeleine L'Engle).

      *Editing: edit my submission for #writestuff's monthly challenge.

      *Writing: write something daily, or as often as possible.

      *Submissions: 1 new submission this week! (after #writestuff challenge).

A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you get busy. It knows you have a life. The Blog Hop is a portal to other realm of writing, blogging, and guidance. Come on it!

Tech Week: Aesop's Foibles

A short update and a haiku.

When time is quite full--

And  between the songs and cues

You still get it right.

This Week:
      *Reading: about halfway through Alysa of the Fields (Tina Field Howe). Having become  absorbed into this story, I have not started Meet the Austins (Madeleine L'Engle). This is my second read and getting a good parallel past historical events such as when Spanish, French, and English came to America and viewed the Native Peoples. Or even now when we interact with people from the Middle East, or those who are Muslim. It a way a good lesson to remember that people are people. Sometimes we just need to be open minded and listen.
       *Social Media: I did get to visit 4 blogs on Sunday, which was the only day that I had time. It happens.
       *Theatre Stuffs: Aesop's Foibles goes up Friday. It's been a long week, but the kids have buckled down and we have a show. If you on around you should come and see the show. Some of these kids are new to theatre, others have done a few shows already, but they all have fun, cute little parts.

It's been a quiet week, Dear Readers. The overly hot days have been replaced with a blast of crisp chill. If the weather gods are fair the will return the weather to the 70's for the rest of the week, as promised. I have Zombie Prom rehearsal tonight, meaning I get to rest from Aesop. It's not really a rest when you think about it.

Somewhere I will have some more time, Dear Readers to get to my To Do List. Right now I am having my morning coffee and reading (and writing this post). After such a whirlwind month in April, May is feeling quiet (well, not counting the theatre stuff happening). I wonder if it will ever end. I doubt it, I love being busy. Yet, I am looking forward to the time of June through August, when I do not have commitments and more time to write without passing out (like I did last night).

I am not trying to justify anything. I know what I choose to do and not do, but as my Dear Readers, and my peers with ROW80, NaPoWriMo, #WriteStuff, The Musketeers, etc. I want Alls Y'all to know that I am committed to writing. Growing older does mean growing wiser. And becoming wiser means that you have to take a look and see how you can actually make your goals that you set. Also, it is one day at a time.

That is enough ranting, Dear Readers. I have the M'Rauda Threat in Alysa, work to accomplish, Zombie Prom songs to finish learning, and too much other stuff. Also, I would rather not worry if possible.

And, here's an image for you, I sing Zombie Prom songs in my car driving to and from rehearsals in Odessa, and to and from Watkins, Corning, and Horseheads. Imagine me singing That's the Beat for Me or Enrico Fermi High, or Come and Join Us, driving down the highway? Pretty funny, right?

Remember, A Round of Words in 80 Days is a challenge that knows you have a life. Here is the Blog Hop, stop on in and see what we are all up to. We'd love to see you!