There is one thing that flash fiction and syllabic poetry have in common and that’s the brevity of words. Because we’re limited by the number of words (or syllables in syllabic poetry) we must choose concise words to convey our meaning.

I call these words figurative language. I use the same literary devices when writing flash fiction as I do when writing syllabic poetry.

Figurative Language

Figurative language should enhance the meaning of your prose and poetry by making connections that allow the reader to infer their own meaning. Here are a few literary devices that will strengthen your writing:

Analogy: This is when you compare similar attributes shared by separate things or ideas. You do this by using a simile or metaphor.

EX: A coyote running across the arid desert after its prey; the base runner dashed for home plate, kicking up dust in his haste.

A simile is when you compare things that are different. Usually the words, like or as, are used.

EX: A happy memory is like an old friend who welcomes you home when you need it most.

A metaphor implies a comparison between two different things. You don’t use the words like or as, in this case.

EX: He stinks of infidelity. This doesn’t mean there’s an odor. Instead, the sentence implies the guy is a cheater. This creates a visual image in your mind of a person who is disloyal.

Irony: Choosing words to hint at the opposite of their usual meaning. The difference between appearance and reality.

EX: The whipped butter felt as soft as a block of ice. Clearly, in this case, looks can be deceiving.

Personification: Assigning a human trait to something not human. EX: The wind whispered through the dry grasses. The wind can’t whisper because that is a human trait. Yet, the description gives the reader a sensory image they won’t forget.

Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds, such as when two or more words close in proximity, repeat the same vowel sound, without repeating consonants; sometimes called vowel rhyme.

EX: Sally sells seashells beside the seashore (repetition of the short e and long e sounds).

Alliteration: Words that start with the same sound (not just the same letter) used in repetition in a series of words within a phrase or verse line. Usually, the sound is a consonant, and the words are not next to each other. Alliteration does not depend on letters but on sounds—think tongue twisters!

EX: Kim came home to clean the chaos in her closet. (Kim came, is dependent on the same sound, not the consonant letter it begins with).

(From: Chesebro, Colleen M., Word Craft: Prose & Poetry: The Art of Crafting Syllabic Poetry (pp. 15-16). Kindle Edition).

So let’s apply those literary devices to writing syllabic poetry. Are you new to crafting syllabic poetry and don’t know how to start? Let me show you two syllabic poetry forms to get you started on your poetry writing journey.

Let’s start with an American form, the cinquain. The cinquain is a five-line, non-rhyming poem featuring a syllable structure of 2-4-6-8-2. Choose words that create drama that builds into the fourth line. The turn occurs on line five, the most important line. This is where you change your focus away from the drama in some interesting way. Cinquain poems need a title.

Use a syllable counter as you compose your poetry. I use the Syllable Counter at https://www.traveldailylife.com/syllables/. See my cinquain example below:

Day Dawns

pink blush—
fairy makeup
smudges morning’s gray clouds
dew sparkles against the grasses
thunder

© Colleen M. Chesebro

In the cinquain above, I described a morning sunrise. True to the form, I pivoted in line five. My last two-syllables are where I turned away from the beauty of the scene and added the word “thunder.” This gives a hint that not everything is as it seems in the idyllic scene I described.

“Pink blush—fairy makeup” is personification. I’ve assigned human traits to the color of the morning sky.

If Japanese poetry intrigues you, start with the haiku. Haiku consists of three lines following the short-long-short, 3-5-3, 2-3-2, (5-7-5 traditional) syllable count. Usually your haiku should contain approximately twelve syllables. We write haiku about nature, the seasons, a beautiful moment in nature, an emotional experience while in nature, or change. Haiku are untitled, and this form requires a Kigo (season word). Haiku does not rhyme. Do not use metaphors or similes in haiku.

(When you’re first learning how to write haiku, feel free to use the 5-7-5 syllable structure until you’re ready to embrace the shorter formats.)

When we write haiku, we’re sharing an encounter between nature and ourselves as a human. We describe our experience at that exact moment. These are the moments that stand out and grab our attention in unexpected ways. Remember, haiku are untitled.

clouds stitched together
against the blue cloth of sky
solstice heat rises

© Colleen M. Chesebro

In the haiku above, I describe the clouds, and how they look against a blue sky. That’s personification! Notice my choice of words. I also used a kigo or season word, solstice heat which we know occurs in summer. Blue cloth of sky wasn’t enough to define a season because we could describe the sky in those terms any season of the year.

Break your haiku into two separate word images:

lines one and two: clouds stitched together against the blue cloth of sky

lines two and three: against the blue cloth of sky, solstice heat rises

This is a great way to check your haiku when you’ve finished writing. Combine the first and second line of your haiku. Does a mental image appear? In this example, you can see the clouds contrast the color of the blue sky. Remember the brevity of words.

However, when you take the second and third line and combine them, you receive another mental image. Now you see the solstice heat shimmers against the blue sky. The summer solstice occurs in June.

The idea in crafting haiku is to write about two contrasting or somehow similar images, and to connect them in unusual ways. Haiku are all about images. How does the haiku make you feel? Have you created emotion without telling your reader how to feel?

That’s it! You’re ready to craft syllabic poetry! Join me for #TankaTuesday on wordcraftpoetry.com.

Copyright © 2022 Colleen M. Chesebro – All rights reserved.

Colleen M. Chesebro lives in East Lansing, Michigan in the United States.

Colleen grew up in a large city in the Midwest. Keen on making her own way in the world, she joined the United States Air Force after graduation to tour the world and find herself. To this day, that search continues.

Today, she’s a Michigan Poet who loves crafting syllabic poetry, flash fiction, and creative fiction and nonfiction. Colleen sponsors a weekly poetry challenge, called #TankaTuesday, on wordcraftpoetry.com, where poets learn how to create traditional and modern forms of syllabic poetry.

Colleen created Word Craft Poetry as an uplifting community where poets can learn the basics of writing Japanese and American syllabic poetry by sharing their own poetic inspiration on their blogs through the challenge written in one of the following forms: haiku, senryu, haiga, tanka, gogyohka, haibun, tanka prose, renga, solo renga, cinquain, and its variations, Etheree, nonet, shadorma, Badger’s Hexastich, and Abhanga. Poets receive positive feedback from their peers, who inspire each other to stretch their creativity.

When she’s not writing poetry or crafting short stories, you’ll find Colleen digging in her garden, or playing with her two unicorn cats, Chloe & Sophie, or spending time with her husband and friends. Most days you can find her writing poetry on wordcraftpoetry.com, or preparing books for publication at Unicorn Cats Publishing Services.

You can follow Colleen’s blog at Word Craft Poetry and follow her on Twitter at @ColleenChesebro.