I enjoy playing with a new form, and this week I had a few to try out. One was invented by my very own student Chloe. This has happened only a few times in my teaching career when students become so comfortable with poetry that they venture into creating a new form. Chloe was writing to a prompt from Write Out, a collaboration between the National Writing Project and the National Park Service. The prompt asked students to draw a bird and write a journal entry for a day in the city. Chloe decided to draw a peacock. Then she wrote a very P heavy peacock poem. The aha came when she realized there was a distinct rhythm to her words. Voila! A new form!
Her form uses the syllable count of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. We talked about the number five and decided that Penta-poem (more P words) had a nice ring to it. There is an optional rhyme scheme.
I used another Write Out prompt to play with Chloe’s form. This prompt asked us to write from the perspective of an underground creature.
Some of our Poetry Friday peeps have also tried the Penta-Poem: Responses to This Photo Wants to be a Poem and Linda Mitchell uses a variation with a found poem.
I was introduced to a few other new-to-me forms on Ethical ELA Open Write this week. Anna J. Small Roseboro presented “Take a Word for a Walk” like the 5-finger exercises that pianists use. Writing to a daily prompt is exercise for the poet. Read Anna’s prompt here.
Why Worry?
I worry that I’m not good
Margaret Simon, draft
enough to worry about myself when
I give in, worry for the sake
of all my silly worry lists
waiting for nothing but for worry.
Reflections on the Teche 
I saw about Chloe’s ‘penta’ form on Linda M’s site, too, Margaret. It is clever & I love your poem ending about worms, truth! Your take a word for a walk feels like our weeks & months we’ve lived, worry here, worry there! Another truth! Enjoy your weekend!
Your “Why Worry” poem makes me want to try this form. Thank you for sharing it here, Margaret.
Margaret, Chloe’s poem is inventive as is her format-perfect perfection (what a great combination of words). I have never seen a child invent a poetry form so kudos to her. I like your worry poem because it speaks to me during this trying time. I know that I worry for the sake of worry and it is not a great practice to adopt so why worry I ask myself. Thanks so much for this poem of yours.
Saw this late last night and so happy to read more of Chloe’s story and her peacock poem. I have always loved the beauty of peacocks. Maybe it is the brilliance of the turquoise, my favorite color (and spelling word from grade 4, I still can remember that!) You have lucky students! I miss writing with my 5th graders. I will check into the two links you mentioned. Thanks, Margaret.
Love these new forms! You did a wonderful job with them, too. You and Chloe are very inspiring.
P.S. Chloe’s peacock drawing is great!
Great to hear about Chloe’s new form. Enjoyed her peacock poem and your snake penta.
Such and interesting and challenging form. I saved Anna’s prompts on my desktop and hope to try a “take a word for a walk” poem. Thanks Margaret.
I just love these. I had a student once who, having learned about tritinas and sestinas, and then seeing a lesson from Nancie Atwell in which a student had created four and five forms (Quatrina and quintina, maybe? My book is at school so I can’t check), invented a form she called a “tina” based on the number one. It is very cool, as you say, when young poets are that confident. I’m saving the “take a word for a walk” prompt and I love the comparison with piano exercises. Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
Chloe’s artwork is beautiful – and what an exciting new poetry form! She’s so creative. Thank heaven for that underground “good snake” you captured in your own penta-poem, for we do need him. I enjoyed Roseboro’s poems and challenges, too. How well you took worry for a walk in that poem – it flows right along. Although the form uses so few words, your “Why Worry” leaves us reflecting on the ways that we do wait for worry. It should not take US on the walks it does. Well-said, Margaret!
What a treasure. I am glad that Chloe feels confidant enough to create her own form. Love this and am going to try it.
This post is brimming with inspiration, Margaret! Thank you for sharing all these resources. How clever Chloe is! She is so lucky to have you to guide and nurture her talent. I love both of these Penta-Poems, and “Why Worry?” describes my life exactly.
That Chloe! What a fabulous peacock poem and a new form for us to try as well!
I just love the way you leap into every challenge, Margaret, and your willingness to experiment and take these risks are what makes it possible for Chloe to take one too. I also think the Penta is a missing link in our repertoire of syllable-count forms! I’m excited to try it. Also enjoyed reading the Take a Word for a Walk piece, which led me to Languages of Love in the Classroom, which led me to — and so on!
What a fun new form! I enjoyed both Chloe’s and yours, and I look forward to taking a crack at my own.
A penta poem pat on the back to Chloe! Well done on inventing a new form! I hope she’s proud as a peacock that her creation has sprouted wings. I enjoyed reading her beautifully illustrated poem and the ones you and Linda M. shared this week too.