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SADDLE-UP SALOON; COLLEEN’S DOUBLE ENNEAD CHALLENGE NO. 8
Happy September! Welcome to a new Carrot Ranch double ennead monthly poetry challenge. Every third Monday of the month, I’ll be here at the Saloon with another challenge to help get your poetic juices flowing. Each month, we will explore a different theme or image to inspire our poetry. Take your time, there’s no hurry! You have an entire month to write your poem.
HINT: You can find this post again by typing: double ennead challenge in the search box to the right of the Carrot Ranch banner. That will bring up the most recent challenge post. ❤
Check out the poems from last month HERE
The word Ennead means nine, and a double nine is ninety-nine! Carrot Ranch is famous for 99-word flash fiction. Now, the ranch has its own syllabic poetry form written in 99 syllables!
The Double Ennead comprises five lines with a syllable count of 6/5/11/6/5, (33 SYLLABLES per stanza) 3 STANZAS EACH = 99 SYLLABLES, NO MORE, NO LESS! Punctuation and rhyme schemes are optional and up to the poet.
With the first day of Autumn quickly approaching on September 22nd, my thoughts naturally turn to pumpkin spice, hot apple desserts, and warm cuddly blankets. Think about how this season interacts with our five (or six) senses: taste, touch, sight, smell, and hearing.
“Your five senses help you take in information from the world around you. These senses are also a powerful tool to use when you’re writing. They help convey a message to readers by providing a strong image in their heads.” Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/article-5-senses-in-poetry
For example, think about Autumn and describe it using your five senses:
- Taste: pumpkin spice, mulling spices, apples, pears, harvest foods, etc.
- Touch: wet rain, cold fog, warm sunlight, soft blankets, bonfires, etc.
- Sight: leaf piles, fall color, red gold and orange leaves, wheat sheaves, corn stalks, bales of hay, pumpkins, etc.
- Smell: wet, moldy, wet leaves, decayed leaves, pumpkin spice, baked bread, etc.
- Hearing: autumn rains, cool or stormy winds blowing, geese honking in migratory flocks, etc.
My example follows:
"Lady Autumn" welcome Lady Autumn— wet dew on grasses, foggy sunrise awash over the fenland sunshine between shadows, chilly to the touch red-tipped maples glitter embracing the Queen of all seasons, trouping their finest colors like burnished leaves displayed in a royal crown nothing gilded can stay every leaf must fall for a vivid autumn is death's finest hour cold rain despoils the bracts death, decay follow © 2021 Colleen M. Chesebro
This month, write a double ennead poem dedicated to Autumn. Pay special attention to sensory words.
- Post it on your blog or in the comments if you don’t have a blog.
- Include a link back to this challenge in your post. (copy the https:// address of this post into your post).
- Read and comment on your fellow poet’s work. Feedback from other poets is how we grow our poetry writing craft.
- Like and leave a comment below if you choose to do so.
- I’ll visit, comment, and share your poetry on social media!
Now have fun and write some double ennead poetry!
SADDLE-UP SALOON; COLLEEN’S DOUBLE ENNEAD CHALLENGE NO. 7
Happy August! Welcome to a new Carrot Ranch double ennead monthly poetry challenge. Every third Monday of the month, I’ll be here at the Saloon with another challenge to help get your poetic juices flowing. Each month, we will explore a different theme or image to inspire our poetry. Take your time, there’s no hurry! You have an entire month to write your poem.
HINT: You can find this post again by typing: double ennead challenge in the search box to the right of the Carrot Ranch banner. That will bring up the most recent challenge post. ❤
Check out the poems from last month HERE
The word Ennead means nine, and a double nine is ninety-nine! Carrot Ranch is famous for 99-word flash fiction. Now, the ranch has its own syllabic poetry form written in 99 syllables!
The Double Ennead comprises five lines with a syllable count of 6/5/11/6/5, (33 SYLLABLES per stanza) 3 STANZAS EACH = 99 SYLLABLES, NO MORE, NO LESS! Punctuation and rhyme schemes are optional and up to the poet.
Poetic Inspiration
Do you search for poetic inspiration? If you do, I’d like to share a discovery with you. I’m obsessed with the Oracle… what is the oracle, you ask?
The poetry Oracle is magnetic poetry. Click the link above and choose one of the category icons in the lower online version after the first group. A series of words will appear and you can drag and drop the words into the white area to create your poetry. I often use the Oracle when I’m looking for inspiration.
The Oracle works for syllabic poetry as well. On another browser tab, I usually have a syllable counter open as I compose my poem. I type in the words to check my count.
Here are the words I received from the Poet Kit:
Now, I will drag and drop the words until I have the makings of a poem. There is a button to choose more words. I cycle through the word selection and grab words as I compose my poem. I’m conscious of syllable counts, but for now, I’ll just grab words that closely match the count.
Finally, I’ve composed the first stanza of my double ennead poem (6, 5, 11, 6, 5 syllables). I took a screenshot to share with you:
Always check your syllables with a syllable counter when composing and writing syllabic poetry. The pronunciation of words is very important to convey meaning in your poems. You can use sodacoffee.com/syllables/ as a syllable counter. I checked my one stanza below:
I don’t expect you to compose your entire double ennead poem using the Oracle… although the Oracle works well with longer-form freestyle or prose poetry, too. If I’m looking for inspiration when writing syllabic poetry, I enjoy the magic the Oracle sends.
This month, try experimenting with the Oracle. Write only ONE stanza of a double ennead poem and share it on your blog.
My example follows:
"Full Moon Magic" velvet smiles let joy dance through vast heart-sky clouds, remember hot kisses lingering—steamy... delicious poetry, warm perfumed desire ©2021 Colleen M. Chesebro
Experiment with the poetry Oracle. Write only ONE stanza of a double ennead poem (6, 5, 11, 6, 5 syllables) using magnetic poetry. If you’d rather write a double ennead poem, and not try out the magnetic poetry site, write about a theme of your choice.
- Post it on your blog or in the comments if you don’t have a blog.
- Include a link back to this challenge in your post. (copy the https:// address of this post into your post).
- Read and comment on your fellow poet’s work. Feedback from other poets is how we grow our poetry writing craft.
- Like and leave a comment below if you choose to do so.
- I’ll visit, comment, and share your poetry on social media!
Now have fun and write some syllabic poetry!
Saddle Up Saloon; Colleen’s Double Ennead Challenge No. 3
Happy April! Welcome to the Carrot Ranch Double Ennead Monthly Poetry Challenge. As a guest of the Saddle Up Saloon, every third Monday of the month, I’ll be here with another challenge to help get your poetic juices flowing. Each month, we will explore a different theme or image to inspire our poetry. Take your time, there’s no hurry! You have an entire month to write your poem. No blog? Don’t worry. Add your poem in the comments below.
Check out the poems from last month HERE
The word Ennead means nine, and a double nine is ninety-nine! Carrot Ranch is famous for 99-word flash fiction. Now, the ranch has its own syllabic poetry form written in 99 syllables!
The Double Ennead comprises five lines with a syllable count of 6/5/11/6/5, (33 SYLLABLES per stanza) 3 STANZAS EACH = 99 SYLLABLES, NO MORE, NO LESS! Punctuation and rhyme schemes are optional and up to the poet.
This month, let’s explore end rhyme schemes in our double Ennead poems.
First, let’s learn more about end rhyme schemes. Here is a quick definition:
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of sound found at the end of lines. These rhyme schemes are given a letter, usually beginning with the letter A.
A four-line poem with a rhyme scheme is something like this:
The first line rhymes with the third line, and the second line rhymes with the fourth line. The rhyme scheme is ABAB.
Roses are red, violets are blue, Shakespeare is dead? I had no clue.
Let’s use the simple Abhanga syllabic form as an example. The Abhanga is written in any number of four-line verses. The syllable count is 6-6-6-4 per stanza.
In this form, only L2 and L3 rhyme. Often, the letter x, is used to denote an unrhymed end word. This rhyme scheme is:
xaax, x = unrhymed. (Lower case letters only show the rhyming pattern).
magic is found within breathe deep into your core open your heart and soar find inner peace ©2021 Colleen M. Chesebro
We use rhymes in many poetry forms. Rhymes aren’t always used in patterns or at the end of lines, which means not all rhyming poetry has a rhyme scheme.
We only use rhyme schemes for poems that use end rhyme—which is rhymes at the end of lines.
A rhyme is a repetition of sounds, usually the same sound, in the final stressed syllables of two or more words. Poets use rhyming for artistic effect. It makes our poetry more interesting. I enjoy the challenge of mixing syllabic poetry with end rhymes… it’s like solving a word puzzle.
Litcharts.com has an excellent discussion of end rhyme schemes you can read HERE.
For this month’s challenge, write a double ennead poem using an end rhyme scheme of your choice. You can select the theme that inspires you.
If end rhyme schemes aren’t your thing, write your double ennead based on a magical experience… OR do both! I did!
Always check your syllables with a syllable counter when composing and writing syllabic poetry. The pronunciation of words is very important to conveying a meaning in your poems. You can use sodacoffee.com as a syllable counter. There is also howmanysyllables.com, which is my favorite because you get access to synonyms as you’re composing.
My Example:
I’m a visual person, so I found some inspiration on Pixabay.com.
The rhyme scheme in each stanza (or couplet) is xxaax, x = unrhymed, only L3 and L4 rhyme in each stanza.
“The Cherry Orchard”
down the path from the farm the cherry orchard ablaze in shades of mauve... glows under the moon, while pink katydids’ croon anthems to the stars break of day streaks the sky birdsong welcomes light dew-kissed grasses bend in the delicate breeze wildflowers hail the bees morning glory dawn magic blooms in rebirth, blush buds share secrets life unfolds in cycles and seasons repeat ancient helix complete life in the orchard ©2021 Colleen M. Chesebro
- Write a double ennead poem using an end rhyme scheme of your choice. You can select a theme that inspires you. If end rhyme schemes aren’t your thing, write your double ennead based on a magical experience—or do both!
- Post it on your blog. If you don’t have a blog, copy and paste your poem into the comments below.
- Include a link back to this challenge in your post. (copy the HTTPS:// address of this post into your post).
- Read and comment on your fellow poet’s work. Feedback from other poets is how we grow our poetry writing craft.
- Like and leave a comment below if you choose to do so.
- I’ll visit, comment, and share your poetry on social media! I’ll share a roundup of all of your poetry on colleenchesebro.com the Saturday before the next month’s Double Ennead challenge.
Now have fun and write some magical poetry!
Carrot Ranch Literary Community 