Writing Form poems in January

So far in January I have written an Etheree, a Cinquain, two Burns Stanzas, and several Haiku. I enjoy writing form poems because I can focus on the subject of the poem. The form dictates the syllable count and rhyme scheme; sometimes it is difficult to get the rhyme to sound natural in form poem. Overcoming the difficulties of writing according to the form is good for a poets self-esteem.

An Etheree is a 10-line poem, which follows a specific syllable count for each line. The syllable count for each line of the Etheree is 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. Once the poete completes the poem then it is centered it on the page.

A Cinquain is a 5-line unrhymed poem with syllable counts of 2-4-6-8-2.

A Haiku is a 3-line unrhymed poem with a syllable count of 5-7-5.

A Burns Stanza is a 6-line poem with a rhyme scheme of a-a-a-b-a-b. The syllable count is 8 for the lines rhyming a and 4 for the lines rhyming b.

The rest of the poem I wrote this month were free verse, which means they had no specific rhyme scheme or syllable count. I like writing free verse poem, but they are not as challenging as form poems. I especially enjoy attempting new poetry form.