This week, I wrote a tiny version of a poetry pamphlet, or chapbook. In this article, I will define a poetry pamphlet, and explain how I created my practice pamphlet.
A poetry pamphlet is smaller than a poetry collection. Pamphlets contain a small number of poems—approximately 15-30 poems—centered around one theme. Emerging poets often introduce their work with a chapbook of selected poems.
Pamphlets may be published by a professional, self-published online by the author, or simply copied and stapled directly from the author’s computer. Any method serves the purpose of organizing the poems to share. You may want to share with your family and friends, or you may want to advertise your upcoming book. For either purpose, the poetry pamphlet is an ideal device.
The incentive to create my poetry pamphlet grew from an assignment by the White County Creative Writers’ Group. Participants were challenged to find or create a simple exercise to help us become better writers.
I felt motivated to practice a miniature poetry pamphlet. I created a plan and applied the following steps:
Choose a theme.
Select one poetry form.
Adopt either rhymed or unrhymed poems.
If rhymed poems are chosen, use only one rhyme scheme for all.
Using this plan, create a total of ten poems to complete the practice pamphlet.
I picked a seasonal theme. The ten practice poems pertained to the weather.
Tercet was the chosen poetry form. A tercet contains three lines of any length. I decided to make the first two lines three syllables in length and the third line one syllable. Choosing a tercet instead of a sonnet was a wise decision, for simplicity prevented me from giving up too soon.
Untitled, rhymed verse was my preference. The rhyme scheme of choice was AAB. The first two lines of each poem rhymed, and the final line of a one-syllable word stood alone.
Here are the completed poems.
1.
Winter’s cold
—so I’m told—
bites.
2.
Spring smells sweet.
Flowers peek
blooms.
3.
March wind howls
through the clouds.
Roar!
4.
In Summer
sun, bummer
heat.
5.
Floods. We fear
water near.
Rush!
6.
In a drought,
do without
rain.
7.
In late Fall,
the leaves all
float.
8.
With snowflakes,
beauty makes
art.
9.
Boots, boots, boots—
finish suits
well.
10.
Blankets warm
through the storm.
Sleep.
The assignment flowed easily with ten poems completed in record time. This gave me a sense of accomplishment. I finished every task, which included creating objectives, following steps, producing ten finished poems, editing the poems, and editing the pamphlet instructions for “The Write Way” blog.
The confidence in my ability to start and finish a project soared. I am now ready for the next group challenge.
- A Miniature Poetry Pamphlet - March 25, 2024
- Identifying Meter II - May 1, 2023
- Identifying Meter - April 24, 2023
Donna, this looks like a fun exercise.
Good job!