The Snowflake Chronicles

September 2015 Fantasy News Letter

Speculative Poetry

What is speculative poetry?

Have you written a Scifaiku recently?

Both of the following poems are by this week's editor Prosperous Snow celebrating .

Ancient aliens
Are they waiting to return?
Did they ever leave?

This is my second Scifaiku, which I post on Facebook on September 2.

Andy the Android
Practiced The Robotic Laws
There are three in all.

I posted this poem on one of my offsite blogs last week.


What is speculative poetry? According to WikipediA there are four types or subgenre of speculative poetry. Those are (1) science fiction, (2) mythic, (3) horror, and (4) weird (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculative_poetry). None of these subgenres cover a specific form of poetry. Any form from free verse to sonnets can be used in writing speculative poetry. H. P. Lovecraft, one of my favorite speculative poets, used sonnets in some of his verses.

I have written speculative poem using limericks and free verse. Until recently I did not use or even know about scifaiku (see http://www.scifaiku.com/what/). I wrote my first scifaiku poem this month. Immediate after writing "Surprise Party at Deep Space Nine"  I wrote two more. I enjoyed writing all three poems and plan to write more.

Writing scifaiku is not as easy as it looks. This form is derived from the haiku and is usually composed of seventeen syllables. According to my research scifaiku uses words from science which has numerous syllables. It is these words that make this form challenging and fun.

I want to challenge my readers to write a scifaiku poem and submit it to this newsletter. The deadline is October 2, 2015.

STATIC

GALACTIC GUNSLINGER   (13+) Who says a gunslinger must be - human? #1537443 by Oldwarrior

Excerpt: Report T001-04B, Circuit 239-0007 Earth date: 1881 AD. Have established contact with local indigenous intelligent life and proceeding to insert my presence into their organized society to study their social standards and potential aggressive tendencies per order of Supreme Council Edict 109A55597B62. Have assumed human form in order to accomplish this mission. End Report # T001-04B.

Venture into the unknown  (E) My first little story I'm working on. #2055281 by YkpEmr

Excerpt: A dark night, consumed by the fear of what's to come. I was able to find my way thanks to the aid of moonlight in that freezing hell. If I could have only moved faster. The roots of madness and fear were so deep that I couldn't get a hold of what was real and what was not.

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #2055247 by Not Available.

Excerpt: All Leo wanted was to go home, but seeing as he chugged through space at an almost locomotive slowness, it wasn't likely. The bee, bo, boops of the spacecraft's flickering buttons – not the hologram projections of newer models – drew Leo out of any chance of taking a nap too.

Road to Cyrodiil  (E) Felix is an Imperial living in Whiterun with dreams of moving to his parents' homeland. #2049725 by Leoht Toliman

Excerpt: The warmth of the sun beats down on my face as I lean gingerly against the fountain near the Market District. The harsh light makes my orange hair glow bright so I stand out like a sore-thumb easily found by my friend Lockie who saunters towards me with a massive grin on his face.

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #2055295 by Not Available.

         Excerpt: Forty long years spent at a desk,
         Sitting in front of thirty smaller desks.
         Students, endless students,
         Flowing in and out of her classroom.
         A few memorable, but most morphing into a nameless herd...
         All bent on their own agendas- getting an 'A' out of her.

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #2055706 by Not Available.

Feedback from "Fantasy Newsletter (August 12, 2015)" 

hammer18 writes: Oh, do I feel you on this! As a steampunk writer, my history has to be "sort of" accurate, and I'm constantly researching details from how a telegraph works to when toilet paper was invented, then deciding what to fudge under the guise of our old guardian angel, Artistic License. And at 66, I well remember, and don't miss a bit, those pre-internet days! Your best advice has to be to keep a pad by the computer, and I would add to keep a pocket-size notebook with you at all times; You never know when the Muse is going to throw that career-defining idea at you!

Elfin Dragon-finally published writes: You are so right on keeping information about research. And there is so much out there. And I'm finding that research for a Sci/Fi novel is different than that of a fantasy novel. There's more tech knowledge which goes into it especially if you've created a whole knew world. So then you really do have to be picky about the info you choose so your readers know you've written your world into some sense of reality and it has a possibility of truth.

Julie writes: Thanks for featuring my story!
         You're welcome. Prosperous Snow celebrating

garlic and chili writes: Hi dear editor! Thank you for including my work in your newsletter; I really appreciate it. ~garlicandchili
         You're welcome. Prosperous Snow celebrating