Carpe Diem's Little Ones #12, Shadorma

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I thought it was time to create a new episode of our Special feature "Little Ones" in which I will introduce this time a poetry-form, from Spain, Europe, called "Shadorma". I hadn't heard of this form earlier, but I ran into a beautiful weblog by Bastet in which the Shadorma was mentioned. Of course I had to look at this form and I realized that it also works with syllables as we know from haiku.

The Shadorma is a poetic form consisting of a six-line stanza (or sestet). The form is alleged to have originated in Spain. Each stanza has a syllable count of three syllables in the first line, five syllables in the second line, three syllables in the third and fourth lines, seven syllables in the fifth line, and five syllables in the sixth line (3/5/3/3/7/5) for a total of 26 syllables. A poem may consist of one stanza, or an unlimited number of stanzas (a series of shadormas).

It has been suggested that the shadorma is not a historical poetic form as it is alleged to be by those who have recently revived and popularized it. There is no evidence of extant early Spanish poetry using this form. Further, the word shadorma does not appear in Spanish-language dictionaries, and no examples of the early usage of the form appear in poetry textbooks or anthologies. Further, there is no literary criticism regarding its history in Spanish literature. Considering this, the alleged history of the shadorma may be modern hoax (a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth) or the poetic equivalent of an urban legend (a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true). However, the shadorma has been used by many modern writers and is a popular writing exercise in creative writing programs and workshops.

I sought the internet and I ran into several examples of Shadorma, but this one by Richard Ankers is (in my opinion) a beauty:

Emerald,
Verdant grass of dreams;
Swaying free;
Living free;
Gathered together as one:
Most peaceful landscape.

© Richard Ankers

And I found a wonderful Shadorma at Jen's weblog, I haven't ask her permission yet, so I hope she doesn't mind that I use her Shadorma (of course I link her Shadorma). Here is Jen's Shadorma:

Memories
with crocodile teeth
overwhelm
the phoenix –
plumes turn to ash in his mouth –
he singes his jaws

© Jen of Blog It Or Lose It

Credits: Red Roses

Well ... it's a poetry-form were I am not so familiar with so I will give it a try to write my first Shadorma ever and share it here with you all ...

red Roses
sharing their perfume,
morning mist
and the soft breeze
giving it to the whole wide world,
unknown love

© Chèvrefeuille

Not a great or strong one ... it's a kind of poetry that I have to study a little bit longer before I can relate to it ... but I think for a very first Shadorma not a very bad try ...

Well ... this Little Ones episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until August 15th at noon (CET).