Mrs. Hudson's Poetry Page: The Solitary Cyclist

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Welcome once again to my poetry page!

I hope each week you will read Dr. Watson’s delightful narrative and then go on to write a poem related to it in some way. All forms of poetry are permitted, and further down the page there is a selection you might like to consider using over the coming weeks.

Rachel is currently somewhere on the Continent, accompanying Mr. Mycroft Holmes on important and top secret government business. However, going beyond the call of duty, she has managed to telegraph her contribution to me.

And so, courtesy of my housemaid Rachel, here is this week’s suggested poem to read—a suggestion inspired by the themes and subjects in this week's story. Hopefully you will enjoy the poem, and perhaps it may give you some ideas for a poem of your own or allow you to look at Dr. Watson's story in a new way.



Light chaff and falling leaves or a pair of feathers

By Gail Wronsky


Telegraph from Rachel: THEME OF POEM HIDDEN DANGERS STOP THREATS CAN LURK BEHIND SEEMING FRIENDS I AM LOOKING AT YOU MR CARRUTHERS STOP MISS SMITH HAS LEARNT CAUTION SO SHOULD WE ALL STOP BEST WISHES FROM ME AND MY TRAINED CORMORANT FULL STOP



Thank you so much to Rachel. And because I was not expecting a poem from my plucky employee, I did also sort out a new poetry form to try: the blitz poem.


Shadow Poetry gives this definition:

The Blitz Poem, a poetry form created by Robert Keim.

This form of poetry is a stream of short phrases and images with repetition and rapid flow. Begin with one short phrase, it can be a cliché. Begin the next line with another phrase that begins with the same first word as line 1. The first 48 lines should be short, but at least two words.

The third and fourth lines are phrases that begin with the last word of the 2nd phrase, the 5th and 6th lines begin with the last word of the 4th line, and so on, continuing, with each subsequent pair beginning with the last word of the line above them, which establishes a pattern of repetition. Continue for 48 total lines with this pattern, And then the last two lines repeat the last word of line 48, then the last word of line 47.

The title must be only three words, with some sort of preposition or conjunction joining the first word from the third line to the first word from the 47th line, in that order. There should be no punctuation. When reading a BLITZ, it is read very quickly, pausing only to breathe.



Here is my example poem:

Dreadful to Pass


penny farthing
penny dreadful
dreadful mess
dreadful detective
detective excuses
detective stories
stories of my home ruined
stories first and second
second chances
second my back was turned
turned over an old leaf
turned place upside down
down in the doldrums
down the hatch
hatch is battened
hatch a plan
plan my revenge
plan a change
change my mind
change the lock
lock horns
lock him out
out on his ear
out of the blue
blue words
blue murder
murder most foul
murder of the English language
language unspeakable
language unsuitable for a gentleman
gentleman attempting re-entrance
gentleman climbing water pipe
pipe in hand and still complaining
pipe down there
there is no stopping him
there is a lock pick
pick on someone your own size
pick your battle
battle of wills
battle of give and take
take a deep breath
take life as it comes
comes to a crisis
comes to a head
head him off
head back you shall not pass
pass the tonic
pass the gin
gin…
tonic...



But you do not have to use this form. Any form of poetry is welcome this week—and every week! Here are a few suggestions for you:

221B verselet, abecedarian poetry, acrostic poetry, alexandrine, ballad, beeswing, blackout poetry, blitz poem, blues stanza, bref double, Burns stanza, call and response, chastushka, cinquain, circular poetry, clerihew, colour poems, concrete poetry, Cornish verse, curtal sonnet, diamante, doggerel, double dactyl, ekphrasis, elegiac couplet, elegiac stanza, elfje, englyn, epigram, epistle, epitaph, epulaeryu, Etheree, fable, Fib, florette, found poetry, free verse, ghazal, haiku, In Memoriam stanza, Italian sonnet, jueju, kennings poem, lanturne, limerick, line messaging, lyric poetry, mathnawī, micropoetry, mini-monoverse, musette, palindrome poetry, pantoum, Parallelismus Membrorum, poem cycle, quintilla, renga, riddle, rime couée, Schüttelreim, sedoka, septet, sestina, sonnet, tanka, tercet, terza rima, tongue twister poetry, triangular triplet, triolet, Tyburn, villanelle


Please leave all your poems inspired by The Solitary Cyclist in the comments on this post. I look forward to seeing them!



Warm regards,

Mrs. Hudson

Comments

Re: Clerihew

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I do love the word 'druthers' ^^ Such a perfect rhyme. And that last line... Carruthers was foolish to have ever thought Violet Smith would be simply his for the asking. Both he and Woodley seemed not to realise there was a person with her own feelings inside that beautiful female form.

Re: Clerihew

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

Yeah - Bob is just another kind of pathetic stalker, the kind who tries to make himself look good by saying "At least I didn't assault her like Woodley did!" In the immortal words of comedian Chris Rock, "WHAT YOU WANT, A COOKIE?" Even Watson (and Doyle behind him) recognizes that behavior as selfish and not romantic.