Ode to an Imaginary Friend

[joel]

One hundred forty syllables,
Seventy iambic feet,
Fourteen lines,
One verse,
Ideally set in iambic pentameter,
Enjambment allowed for thoughts and for syllables between lines,
Every tenth syllable falls in a rhyme scheme—
Rhyme scheme is chiastic: ABCEDFGG’F’D’E’C’B’A’—
May be linear in thought;
Encouraged to float in on a thought in six lines,
Find a pivot in a couplet in lines seven and eight,
Wander off on a thought in lines nine through fourteen,
Like a ball that is thrown up to the sky,
Pauses for a moment,
Descends in another direction;
Encouraged to transgress on a thought in the first seven lines,
Not care about a pivot couplet,
Regress on a tangent in the last seven lines,
Like a wave that smacks a sandy cliché ass,
Like a flirt who compliments and runs back to the masses—
No need to be profound,
No need to finish beautifully,
Form for poorer artists who need it,
Form like a marble block for sculptors who hope art exists independently within—
Sonnet for a brave new world,
Sonnet for a hopeless throwback,
Sonnet for when Atlas shrugs,
Sonnet to be broken for those who need one.

[jimboloco]

regression on a tangent
hope for th feeble minded
and the mighty
let her flow

inspiring thanks!