Imagination flicker spark
Scenes act out to ignite the dark
Mind in matter will heed a lark
Tea party style at pool bottom
Matchbox rides if you’ve got 'em
Awakened eyes shall make a mark
Endless depth to that which is real
Head, heart, hands like to think and feel
Charging chattel to jump, dance, squeal
See flowers grow, and touch tree bark
Hide and seek under pillow fort
Bouncing balls do dribble in court
Entangled bits seize the strange quark
This is that and that could go there
Being light, as free with no care
Turning the time inside your lair
Seasons do shift, green lush to stark
***
Below are the A lines brought together with a personal flare. :)
Mind in matter will heed a lark
~Awakened eyes shall make a mark
See flowers grow, and touch tree bark
~ Entangled bits seize the strange quark
Seasons do shift, green lush to stark
What am I referring to? Answer: Play!
A zejel poem is an old Spanish poetic form. Below is is a layout template to use if you feel like playing with words. It's a challenge to write a zejel poem! Each line has to be 8 syllables. You can write about any topic and change it up a bit, like in the "Play" poem. I alternated making two of the stanzas two lines with a A line at the end, instead of three.
-First stanza is a tercet (3-line stanza) with an AAA rhyme scheme
-All other stanzas are quatrains (4-line stanzas) with a XXXA rhyme scheme, so the second stanza would be BBBA, third CCCA, fourth DDDA, and so on to the end of the poem
-Lines are usually 8 syllables long
A- rhyme- beginning
A- rhyme- middle
A- rhyme- end
B- rhyme- add to story/ beginning
B- rhyme- add to story/ beginning
B- rhyme- add to story/ beginning
A- rhymes with the A lines- match context with beginning A line
C- rhyme- add to story/ middle
C- rhyme- add to story/ middle
C- rhyme- add to story/ middle
A- rhymes with the A lines- match context with middle A line
D- rhyme- add to story/ end
D- rhyme- add to story/ end
D- rhyme- add to story/ end
D- rhyme- add to story/ end
A- rhymes with the A lines- match context with end A line
And so on... (bring the A lines together when your poem is finished to see how they read.)
Here are a couple more zejel poems I wrote to exercise my imagination with word play. 😀
NIGHT GARDEN
Oh! Queen of Night, stepping in now
Dragonfly diamond sparkle bough
Whimsy tips brushing soft pink brow
Hum wing buzz in shadow moonlight
Breath of air on rose sunset flight
Water babbling betwixt in sight
Pungent colors pique mortal wow
Zig-zag fury on ancient vine
Buzzing blissful in circle line
Changing ways a mere passing sign
Rise to fall upon croaking row
Bashful frizz passing eyes alight
Fear the tender tercet reads right
Heart is frothing to take a bite
Arise! Awake! Whispered secret vow
MIRROR IN THE MIDDLE
Skim a flat stone and ripple space
Flip light switch upon flesh face
Here is now, in the middle place
They work for all-—each in their turn
One for the other they will learn
Right this way, free spirits shall yearn
Reflections spot your inner trace
I will know myself— how eye roll
None for the other takes a toll
Left in the dust, lost laggers loll
Circle by time at your own pace
Slice a straight line through our dark heart
Everything breathes in one whole part
Each must shoot its own poison dart
It takes two to run a mad race