The prompt today was to write a triolet. A triolet is an eight-line poem. All the lines are in iambic tetrameter (for a total of eight syllables per line), and the first, fourth, and seventh lines are identical, as are the second and final lines. This means that the poem begins and ends with the same couplet. Beyond this, there is a tight rhyme scheme (helped along by the repetition of lines) ABaAabAB. Actually, there was a triolet challenge that I wrote for twice before for NaPoWriMo, once exactly ten years ago in 2013, the first year I did NaPoWriMo, and again in 2020. The poems as well as the cats I eventually “found” back then are below:
A Poem a Minute with a Triolet In it
When first I tried to write this rhyme
I could not seem to make it scan.
In short, I felt less than sublime
when first I tried to write this rhyme;
but then I took the proper time
and proved the truth as other than:
“When first I tried to write this rhyme
I could not seem to make it scan.”
With Workmen Here
The cats have flown, I know not where.
They’ve chosen to remain aloof.
They don’t await me on the stair.
The cats have flown, I know not where.
Not one to steal my favorite chair.
I do not hear them on the roof.
The cats have flown, I know not where.
They’ve chosen to remain aloof.
The assignment for day four of NaPoWriMo 2023 is to write a triolet.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
now i wont be able to get flying cats our of my mind 😉
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I took a few classes on different styles of poetry and I found rhyming types of poetry was the hardest to grasp. I fell in love with Prose, Haibun, Haiku, Senryu, etc. to be my favorite. Although I passed the rhyming forms, only my the skin of my teeth. That is why I enjoy reading your poems. Thank you for sharing them. They put a smile on my face.
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I think there is something that people find trivializing about rhyming poetry and in addition most of mine are tongue-in-cheek, but they are so much fun to write and at my age I take my fun where I will. I appreciate your comments.
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Well these certainly scan 🙂 I like your aloof cats.
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You did such a great job with this form! I love both poems.
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Thanks, Andrea..
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Glad you did both of them, Judy. They were both great, flowed well, wonderful rhythm – and hey one was about cats, can’t go wrong with that!
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The cats will be back when the workmen leave. 😻
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I like your poem! 😊
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I’ve got poetry envy–your triolets are amazing! I’m bookmarking them to come back to the next time I’m prompted to write a triolet. (I probably won’t be inspired to write one on my own!)
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What a lovely comment! I am so glad you enjoyed them…
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Is that like looking at a banana split so you won’t eat one???
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I should have written “the next time there’s a prompt to write a triolet.” It’s not a form I’d just casually decide to write a poem in. But it seemed like a lot of people on the NaPoWriMo site really find it an enjoyable and even easy form. That said, I feel like it’s getting easier, with better results, the more of them I write.
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Many of their forms are way too complicated. If they are easier, I do it as a game..
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