David, of W3 We’ave Weekly Poetry Prompt the Poet of the Week this week, and he invites us to write a Dormasha. What’s a dormasha? It’s a nonce poem invented by David himself and Sangeetha. Here are the guidelines.
This week’s W3 poetry prompt is to compose a ‘Dormasha’ of at least three stanzas!
Dormasha?
Child of the Shadorma
(the Shadorma has a syllabic structure of 3/5/3/3/7/5 per line);
•Any number of stanzas, just like the Shadorma;
•At least one stanza must rearrange the order of the classic Shadorma’s syllabic lines;
(e.g., 5/3/7/3/5/3 or 3/3/3/7/5/5, 7/3/3/5/3/5, etc., etc.);
•No two stanzas of the Dormasha can have the same syllabic line structure.
I enjoyed this new poetry form. I liken its structure to that of playing different chord conversions in music. I wrote It Cometh thinking of the three syllabic lines as chord triads, and the seven syllabic lines as a seventh chord, and so on.
It Cometh
It Cometh I. By the way, on an autumn day in the wood, it feels good walking under tuneful trees singing with the breeze II. Stepping on the crunch of death Oh, sweet dying breath of gold leafy fall; beauty’s wraith wherewithal, It cometh. III. What cometh? Don’t you know? I haven’t a clue The time is nigh, the time is due. It cometh soon What doth come? IV. It shall reappear in the sky the soft, silent, winsome moon ‘tis nearby the oak, wolf and the snow… V. A crow cawing loud, ergo Breaks the reverie An alert Warning cry To fly; and in affright did flee VI. Shush! Quiet! What is that that stirs in the firs up ahead? What is’t you have heard? Hush! breathe one word—we are dead. VII. They stand still Hold their breath Afraid to apprise the foe Pray, what’s that rustle? Is it death? They don’t care to know. VIII. He draws his longbow and shoots the arrow missing by a narrow mile (Nay, don’t smile!) ‘tis safer Now, let’s go! Lesley Scoble, October 2023
Thank you, David (and Sangeetha) for this dormasha of a prompt!
Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright, (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.
LesleyScoble.com 
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