Nonet

April is National Poetry Month.  Earlier this year, I had all sorts of plans for celebrating poetry this month but then my life became way too busy with Les Miz, and my plans never materialized.  However, there are still seven days of National Poetry Month left... and I still want to celebrate.  That brings me to our word of the week:

In music, a nonet [noh-net] is "a group of nine performers or instruments".  In poetry, a nonet is a poem with nine lines.  The first line contains nine syllables, the second line contains eight syllables, and so on until there is only one syllable in the ninth line.  It does not matter how many words are in each line, only the number of syllables.  Nonets can be written about any subject, and they do not need to rhyme -- although they can.

I had never written a nonet before yesterday and decided to try my hand at one.  Here's what I came up with, writing about my experiences on Monday:

Earth Day Cake

Spring-time sunshine, cerulean sky:
birds sing, butterflies waltz, and tall
trees reach for the clouds.  Below,
periwinkles bloom.  But
eight shy, silent deer
who look my way –
the icing
on the
cake.

~ Janelle H.

It was challenging, but I had a lot of fun writing it.  I encourage you to try creating one yourself, in honor of National Poetry Month.  If you do write one, please consider sharing it -- I'd love to see it! :)