Out Like a Lamb

Breaking the Ice

In the fine mist of a wide wild sea
impressive, towering, majestic
yet breaking, rock candy in pieces

splash and dip, seen not by eye, nor heard,
palaces shattering quietly
now surging in whitecaps o'er shorelines

where fish and fowl, crab and beach house winds
promulgate critical predictions
in tandem, dire forecasts from prophets.


note ▼

I wrote this both as an entry for Writer's Cramp and as a (very late) answer to the April 2 prompt (April 2—Breaking the ice --Incorporate “ice breaking” literally or metaphorically in a poem) at the

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Dew Drop Inn  (18+) April poem-a-day poetry spot! #1370829 by Katya the Poet

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Cappucine invented this form for a poetry slam here on Writing.com. I am allowed to publish the guidelines for this form in my book.

It is not an easy form, the Ninesquare. You have to think, to write this form properly. If you don't the poem is not going to make any sense, and the Ninesquare is definitely a challenge to try.

The guidelines:

A ninesquare has nine lines, each of nine syllables, divided into three three-line stanzas.

* The first line of each stanza must contain nine monosyllables.
* The second line must contain three words of three syllables each.
* The third line must have a one-two, one-two, one-two syllabic structure.
That means that the first word in the third line is a one-syllable word, the second word is a two-syllable word etc... nine syllables in total.

Don't worry about syllabic stress, use of rhyme is optional.

My example:
Rainfall

I sit in the train, watch the rain fall,
travelling tremendous distances
then stopping; it affects my rhythm.

I stand in the rain, watch the train go
Thunderstorm, awfully effective,
is chasing the people to shelters.

I walk in my room and shut the door,
depressing images appearing,
the rhythm, the rainfall, now silence.
© Bianca 2005