Slice of Life Tuesday - A Great Day for LUNES!

It's cold and grey writing day, so today my thoughts have turned to lunes!  What an indulgence.

It’s one of the recurring themes in my writing of poetry. Such a simple poetic structure, but lots of fun. Lunes require three lines. That’s all. Three simple lines. A pattern to follow. They go like this:

3 words
5 words
3 words –but with a twist at the end!

A lune has more flexibility than its ancient cousin, haiku and has no essential connection with nature. It’s just 3/5/3 and away you go!

So lunes it is. Today, my notebook swells even further as I fill the pages with an assortment of lunes. All the time, I’m trying to snap the reader to attention with the final line. Shock and awe…

With lunes every word must do its job. There is no room for pasengers. You are forced to tinker and slide word fragments around in your head in search of the best arrangement. Embrace the challenge. This is all part of being joyfully literate!

Think of lunes another way. They make a great introduction to poetry for many young writers who have previously viewed poetry as something beyond their reach. They write one, and they’re off and running with these wordy delights. Lunes present an opportunity for essential word play. I can honestly say, lunes have never let me down as a vehicle for teaching poetry. There very structure provides a comforting scaffold for the inexperienced poet.

So, as I sit in my study, a host of new lunes have spilt onto the pages of my notebook. I now share some of my loopy lunes with you, dear readers in the hope that they inspire the poet within to dabble in a little lunacy.

On the clifftop  (3)
I sang silly love songs  (5)
To a koala  (3)

On Monday evening
I took my beach towel
To the supermarket

Over the hill
In the early morning light
A spaceship hovered

In my car
Driving down the Monash Freeway
Making fish faces

In my backyard
I watched clouds roll by
Bird poop bomb!

At the seaside
I dived into foaming waves
Wearing pink slippers

Watch me now
Among the bright red tulips
Eating mashed bananas

Something concerns me
I think it might be
Your green toes








Comments

  1. Lynn26 June 2012 at 22:22

    I love these! I can so see students taking off with lunes! Thanks so much for sharing...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright29 June 2012 at 12:29

      My pleasure Lynn. Have fun. The sky may not be the limit!

      Delete
  2. Dana26 June 2012 at 22:43

    I learned something new (and funny). Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Deb Day26 June 2012 at 23:06

    Thanks for the chuckle this morning, Alan. THese are great---and a form I wasn't familiar with. The first one is my favorite!

    ReplyDelete
  4. maria.selke26 June 2012 at 23:32

    I hadn't heard of "lunes" before.... how fun! I especially liked the one with the spaceship hovering. As a child almost all of my stories involved aliens, and so I connected with this surprise ending :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous27 June 2012 at 04:11

    A new kind of writing to try! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. writekimwrite27 June 2012 at 04:37

    There were several surprises here for me. The first one was a reminder that though it is blazing summer hot here there are places in the world where it is cold and grey. Another is although when I see the word lunes it does not always mean Monday(the Spanish word). The best surprise was finding a new poetry form. I see some lunes in my future.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Steve27 June 2012 at 07:02

    Thanks Alan, a burst of writing inspiration right when it was needed.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Linda B27 June 2012 at 10:19

    I love that there's a surprise at the last line. The picture you described sounds wonderful. Since we've had record heat for 5 days straight, I am glad to hear that someone is cool. Thanks for the enthusiasm, Alan. it's a good way to get some writing, I'm sure.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Amy Rudd27 June 2012 at 11:16

    Never heard before
    Message of three five three
    Crazy like Lunes?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Unknown28 June 2012 at 13:08

    Well, I'm for sure adding Lunes to my favorite things to write. I love that you're not limited by syllables but by words. I love how you worked so many lunes into your post. I love the very minilesson here on how to write a lune! I won't even attempt to do that now; it's far too late. My favorite lune of your is def. the one about singing love songs to the koala.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous28 June 2012 at 22:54

    I am so glad to learn about this new poetry form. Thanks! Also I love your words - There is no room for passengers! New lunes have spilt onto the pages...

    ReplyDelete

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