10-line Poem Challenge #10: Carpe Diem

The Carpe Diem was created by Pat Simpson on August 15, 2010.

• It is a decastich written in one single stanza.
• Carpe diem means “seize the day;” therefore, the subject should be anything that makes you happy.
• There is no meter or rhyme requirement,
• But each line has a prescribed syllabic length: 8-6-4-2-10-2-4-6-8-10

Samples

Below are two samples for you. What makes you happy? These are two of my favorite things. I chose not to rhyme either of my poems, but they do contain consonance and some internal rhyme.

Music

Music has the power to heal
Lift the wounded spirit
Rejoice the soul
Comfort
Music gives the happy heart waxen wings
Warble
Lift high your song
Let the winds waft it far
Because music is most potent
When it connects one soul to another

© 2017 Abigail Gronway – All Rights Reserved

Chocolate

Oh, the delight and decadence
Of sumptuous trifles,
Chocolate cream
Truffles,
Wondrous food of the ancient Aztec gods:
Cacao.
Add some sweetness,
Just a touch, not too much,
Hint of liqueur will complement:
Edible joy—scrumdiddlyumptious!

© 2017 Abigail Gronway – All Rights Reserved

 

It’s Your Turn!

Now it’s time for you to write a Carpe Diem. Write about what makes you happy. That and the line lengths are the only requirements for this form. You may make it rhyme or not, according to your fancy. Then when you are finished, please share it with us.

Don’t know how? Follow these simple steps…

1. Write your blog post.
2. Optional: Include the tag Decastich Challenge
3. Include a link to this post in your post so I can find you.
4. Publish your post.

Dig Deeper

To find more samples and to learn from those who taught me, check out these sites. All links open in a separate tab so you can easily find your way back here.

Poet’s Collective ~ The forms on this website are not organized in alphabetical order, but he does have at least one sample poem for each form, he even has tags for rhyme scheme. He also has a visual template for every form so you can see the rhyme scheme and stress patterns, as applicable. That is extremely helpful.

Sol Magazine ~ This resource covers much more than just 10-line poems.

“Metric Forms from Pathways for the Poet” ~ This is an outline of information from Pathways for the Poet by Viola Berg (1977), a book for and by educators. This resource also includes more than just 10-line poems, but it helped to fill in the gaps where my other sources were a bit scanty with their information.

Shadow Poetry ~ This is my favorite resource for learning about poetic forms (and not just the decastich), but I have discovered that there is ever so much more to learn than what I can find here. This is, however, a very good place to start.