Luc Bat Poems: Poetic Form
The luc bat is a Vietnamese poetic form that means “six-eight.” In fact, the poem consists of alternating lines of six and eight syllables. This poem is interesting in its…
The luc bat is a Vietnamese poetic form that means "six-eight." In fact, the poem consists of alternating lines of six and eight syllables. This poem is interesting in its rhyme scheme that renews at the end of every eight-syllable line and rhymes on the sixth syllable of both lines.
Here's a diagram of how the first few lines of luc bat poems should rhyme:
xxxxxA
xxxxxAxB
xxxxxB
xxxxxBxC
xxxxxC
xxxxxCxD
xxxxxD
xxxxxDxE
And so on. Luc bat poems have no set length or subject matter, and some run on for thousands of lines.
Here's my attempt at a luc bat poem:
"Median"
Sometimes, I'd rather start
close to the middle part of love
after the stars above
but before crying doves fly off
in a Boris Karloff
and David Hasselhoff type way
near the end of a play
about a rainy day gone bad--
the end is always sad
with someone being had--you know,
a medias res show.
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Feel free to share your own attempts below, but realize that there may be another WD Poetic Form Challenge just around the corner (hint, hint).
Follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
