Happy July! Welcome to the 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. <3

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.

Last month’s challenge was TUFF! So, this month, let’s write our double ennead using the image below or expound on the theme of travel!

For more inspiration read: What Is Ekphrastic Poetry?

Our Inspiration:

Use the image above to compose your double ennead poem. Remember to count your syllables using the sodacoffee.com/syllables site.

My example follows:

"Travel through Books"

books give me wings to fly
to charming spaces
where characters invite me into their lives
to stay for just a while—
bittersweet friendships

books give me wings to fly
to far-off places
where the battle against good versus evil
wins out at the finish—
soul-satisfying

books give me wings to fly
to learn new concepts
for writing poetry and fun flash fiction—
travel the world of books
enjoy your flight—read!

© Colleen M. Chesebro

Poetry is based on your perceptions. After all the places I lived and traveled to, in and out of the Air Force, the theme of travel is still exciting. (Although now, I do most of my traveling through reading). While I wrote this double ennead with the theme of travel through the reading of books, you might feel and interpret the image differently. Follow your inner voice for inspiration.

In this double ennead, I used the literary device of repetition by intentionally using the phrase “books give me wings to fly” for effect. Poets often employ this technique. We should use the phrase at least two or more times for the repetition to be noticeable. The words or phrases should be repeated within close proximity of each other. Repeating the same words or phrases in a poem brings clarity to an idea and makes it memorable for the reader.

In the next month:

• Write a double ennead poem based on the image above.
• Post it on your blog or in the comments of this post.
• 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!