Friday, August 9, 2013

Poetry Friday at The Storyteller's Scroll


With the recent release of my YA novel, RATGIRL: Song of the Viper,
I’ve become obsessed with Dark Fantasy.

Dark Fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy, which combines fantasy with elements of horror. The term can be used broadly to refer to fantastical works that have a dark, gloomy atmosphere or a sense of horror and dread. 

I am now working on a Dark Fantasy Poetry Collection titled The Dark Mirror. My fellow rhymer at The Poets’ Garage, Renee Tulippe, is hosting Poetry Friday today. http://www.nowaterriver.com/ To support her efforts I have posted one of my dark fantasy poems.

Beware the Wild Rose is a cleave poem. For those of you who have never heard of that poetry form it is three poems in one. Read the left column vertically as poem #1, the right column as poem #2 and the entire poem horizontally as poem #3.

Enjoy!

Beware the Wild Rose
By Gayle C. Krause

The Green Lady sent                                                  Dark Forest Minions gathering
Thorny vines—                                                           Wild Roses
With poisonous barbs                                                  Dripping Blood.
Up through                                                                  Deadly,
Pine-covered moss,                                                     Sharp spikes
Pricking an unsuspecting child,                                   Piercing the soul,
To cast the victim                                                        Into oblivion,
In a deep sleep                                                            Without memory.
Forevermore.                                                               Forgotten!


19 comments:

  1. I'd never heard of cleave poems before -- what a challenging form! Seems like something Marilyn Singer would write. You do a great job!

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  2. Hi Gail! I love your cleave poem! So clever!

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  3. Very cool! I hadn't heard of cleave poems before, but really enjoyed yours...and now I need to go work on writing one of my own!

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  4. Wow! This is great, Gail. I really enjoyed it!

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  5. I really enjoyed this one. Every time I read your cleave poems, it boggles my mind. I don't know how you do it!
    -Carrie

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  6. Thanks guys.

    I don't know how my brain works itself around it either. It's sort of like a puzzle and I always love a challenge! :)

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  7. The cleave poem is new to me as well. This works amazingly well. Such crafting. Did it take you a while to get it just right? The form is effective for the dark fantasy genre.

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  8. Margaret:

    I had a poet friend who sold one of these to Highlights about six years ago, and she told me it was fun to write. I tried to write one and I thought she was crazy. I was sure it was impossible, but as I said above, once you figure out the puzzle-like formation, they are awesome to write. So far I've written six. One, "The Hail Mary Pass," is in "And the Crowd Goes Wild," an international sports poem anthology for children that came out last year.

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  9. I've never heard of the cleave poetry form before, but your example is amazing. I'll have to give it a go some time. Thanks for sharing. =)

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  10. That is awesome! Cleave poem is new to me too.

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  11. Hi Gail! Nice to see you back at Poetry Friday-- you're one of the first bloggers I met on this circuit. :) Congratulations on your book release! Love your cleave poem-- it sets the perfect chilling mood (okay, the lights just dimmed when I wrote that... NOT KIDDING). In the event that someone sneaks up and cleaves me any moment now, I must publish this comment now, as you are my witness!

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  12. Boogildy-Boogildy-Boo!!!!!!

    I love dark, scary stories and it was just a natural step to write some dark, scary poems.

    Glad you liked it. :)

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  13. Oh it's dreadfully wonderful! Or maybe it's wickedly lovely. Either way it's good!

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  14. I agree with Tabatha -- this seems like a form Marilyn Singer would invent! I love your poem in THE CROWD GOES WILD. That book was a favorite with my boys last year.

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  15. Thanks, Mary Lee. Glad your boys enjoyed the book.

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  16. Thanks for introducing this new form! I love word puzzles -- maybe I'll give this cleave business a try someday! How did it get its name, "cleave"? A haunting poem, too!

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  17. Wow! Such a dark and clever poem. Very interesting form, new to me.

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