PROMPT by Lynne Thompson

Photo by Artak Petrosyan on Unsplash

Any serious student of poetics will necessarily be exposed to its myriad examples of formal poetry: sonnets (Italian and Elizabethan), villanelles, tankas, elegies, and this is hardly an exhaustive list. And, as a serious student, you probably will,—even in the face of trepidation and resistance—undertake the task of mastering these forms, much of which has been in existence for centuries. Then you may come to wonder, as I did, how can I make these forms fresh, make them feel more contemporary; can I create a new form? Many contemporary poets have asked just that question and answered kt in innovative fashion. Take Diane Seuss who has created what many regard as an “American” sonnet, not sticking with the rhyme scheme or line length of the Elizabethan sonnet (see: Frank: Sonnets.).

In thinking of ways to refresh well-known forms, I came upon the idea of marrying two forms as in my poem “Sometimes, the light” (Blue on a Blue Palette, BOA Editions 2024) where a cento (per the Poetry Foundation, “a literary work collaged entirely from other authors’ verses or passages”} comprised of Joni Mitchell lyrics are re-rendered as a villanelle, i.e, a centonelle, an excerpt of which is printed below.

Your prompt, if you’re up for the challenge, is to look for ways to combine existing forms—an abecedarian wrestling a blazon, a ghazal locking horns with a canzone. Let your imagination run wild!

Sometimes, the light

Blue, here is a shell for you

and sometimes, there will be sorrow,

but I have no regrets, Coyote.

We’re captive on this carousel of time,

oh, but sometimes the light.

Blue, here is a shell for you and

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Lynne Thompson was the 4th Poet Laureate for the City of Los Angeles. The daughter of Caribbean immigrants, her poetry collections include Beg No Pardon (2007), winner of the Perugia Press Prize and the Great Lakes Colleges Association’s New Writers Award; Start With A Small Guitar (2013), from What Books Press; and Fretwork (2019), winner of the Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Prize. Thompson’s honors include the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Award (poetry) and the Stephen Dunn Prize for Poetry as well as fellowships from the City of Los Angeles, Vermont Studio Center, and the Summer Literary Series in Kenya.