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 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!