Z is for Zigzag and ZaniLa Rhyme

Welcome to the last day of the AtoZ Blogging Challenge! This year I am painted a watercolor to go with each letter and composed a poem to accompany it with a type of poetry that starts with the letter of the day.  I was experimenting with the watercolors still, so perfection was never achieved, but fun was had....

Clicking on the letter of the day will bring you to the main site which has links to get to other participants if you would like to go visit some alphabet adventurers!

 

Z is for Zigzag and ZaniLa Rhyme

The ZaniLa Rhyme form was created by Laura Lamarca. There are 4 lines per stanza and has an abcb rhyme scheme and has a 9/7/9/9 a syllable count per stanza.
Line 3 has an internal rhyme, which is then repeated in each odd numbered stanza.  The even numbered stanzas also have that line, but the two parts of the line are swapped around. The ZaniLa Rhyme has at least 3 stanzas, with no maximum poem length.

I think, and feel, I created my best for last.... and it didn't take me forever to do.  I think I've progressed some, along with just having fun, which were both my goals!  So "SCORE!"

Here, now, is THIS year's final Blogging A to Z Challenge poem and watercolor:

 

 

 Z is for Zigzag

The waves point up then the crests curve down,

the sea zigs and zags to shore;

up, down, to and fro - this ebb and flow

dances across deep ocean's dark floor. 

Starfish zig their arms that look like zags,

a sailboat zigs and zags, too;

this ebb and flow - up, down, to and fro

with barely a straight line in birds' view!

Even this timid, scared rabbit will

zigzag like momma taught her 

up, down, to and fro - this ebb and flow 

Rabbit looks like fast flowing water. 

A zig or zagging in life can be

a welcome, or not, heart change; 

this ebb and flow - up, down, to and fro 

can be stressful and painfully strange. 

The waters flow, the scared rabbit runs

and sailboats tack to travel;

up, down, to and fro - this ebb and flow 

is a life to live and unravel.

By Donna JT Smith ©2025 

 

Bonus poem: 

As a finale in 2012 I wrote a Z poem that wasn't really theme related...just felt like writing it. This is NOT my poem for today (that's above).  This is just for fun – an oldie!

Z-z-z-z
 

Zip zap zing 

Who says z's are not the thing 

To make a poem sing? 

Zombie, zilch, zits 

These are just the pits,

But zooming, zesty, zealous 

make plainer words 

Quite jealous. 

And then you always have 

The z that's in the middle 

Wizard, lizard, drizzle. 

Pizza, razzed and fizzle.

And if that's not enough, friend 

You have them at the end then 

Like whiz and fizz and jazz 

Which give this poetic spaz 

Some dazzling razzmatazz!  

 

© 2012, Donna JT Smith

 

Have a marvelous May! 

I hope you enjoyed the Blogging from AtoZ Challenge as much as I did!  

 

Y is for You and Ya-Du

It's April, so the Blogging from AtoZ Challenge is in full swing. My theme is Watercolor and Words.  This year I am painting a watercolor to go with each letter and composing a poem to accompany it with a type of poetry that starts with the letter of the day.  I am mostly experimenting with the watercolors still, so don't expect perfection....

Clicking on the letter of the day will bring you to the main site which has links to get to other participants if you would like to go on an alphabetical adventure!

 

 

The ya-du is a Burmese poetic form. Here are the guidelines:

• written in five-line stanzas
• first four lines have 4 syllables each
  
• final lined can have 5,7,9,or 11 syllables
• fourth syllable of the first line rhymes with the third syllable of the second line and the second syllable of the third line
• fourth syllable of the third line rhymes with the third syllable of the fourth line and the second syllable of the fifth line.
• fourth syllable of the fourth line rhymes with the final syllable of the final line.
• usually is about seasons.
• most written in three or fewer stanzas.

To begin, I had to color code the rhymes, and space the lines to write between them!

example:

x  x  x  a

x  x  a  x

x  a  x  b

x  x  b  c 

x  b  x  x  c

Though they usually have 3 or fewer stanzas, I wrote 4.  And it is usually written about seasons, and I chose to write about seasons of us.  

Then I painted my You and Me, Two watercolor.  Though it's not a great likeness, it's probably best that way.

 

 

You and Me, Two

I think of you – 

how as two, we

just knew we could

conquer, would win 

and should, vowed, begin.

 

I think of us –

what a fuss to 

entrust this life, 

man and wife crowned,   

where strife might abound.

 

I think of me –

half a being,

at sea, you-less;

but with blessings'  

redressings, I sing!

 
I think more now

of the power

of how someday

we'll replay love 

with grace from above.

by Donna JT Smith ©2025

Feel free to syllable and rhyme check this if you are wondering how accurate I was!  I am NOT going to revise it, though.  And I'm certainly done checking.  (note "grace" is a near-rhyme for "play" half of "replay".) Every time you change one leeeettle beeeet of it, you have to change gobs.  I started this two days ago.  Did bits and waited until it made sense and followed the format. I wanted it to make sense to my life and as a poem and not sound too mechanical - which can easily happen.

One more letter to go.  If you know your alphabet and your calendar...you'll know tomorrow is the last day of the month and the last letter of the alphabet is ... anyone? anyone? (Ferris Beuller's Day Off, right?)

X is for Xylophone and Xylopome

It's April, so the Blogging from AtoZ Challenge is in full swing. My theme is Watercolor and Words.  This year I am painting a watercolor to go with each letter and composing a poem to accompany it with a type of poetry that starts with the letter of the day.  I am mostly experimenting with the watercolors still, so don't expect perfection....

Clicking on the letter of the day will bring you to the main site which has links to get to other participants if you would like to go on an alphabetical adventure!

 

Today is X.  X is one tough letter. I’m not sure we actually need it in words. It just needs to be used on treasure maps and algebra. So xylophone is a thing.

First thing to know about is that a xylophone has wooden bars.  If it has metal bars, it's a glockenspiel. A glockenspiel produces a bright, bell-like sound, while a xylophone has a more mellow tone. They are both laid out in a keyboard-style arrangement and played with mallets.  The xylophone often has a larger range and is played with harder mallets.   So there's the xylophone lesson.  

Now for the X poem! The form I am using is called a XYLOPOME, and it is just now a thing! I made it up. I discovered it so to speak. There was an x on the spot, and I found it, and have named it xylopome.  Heh-heh-heh!

So here's how you write a xylopome:

Rules. A Xylopome is like an Abecedarius in that the beginning letter of each line proceeds alphabetically — but only for 8 letters that are denoting notes, and you may start with any of the letters in an octave and, going in order, end on the letter you started with. So 8 lines, and the number of syllables goes from 8 down to 1. 

For example if you start with F it is 8 syllables and begins with an F,  G is 7 syllables and starts with G, A is 6 ...until you get to the next F is 1.  Here's mine with syllables and initial letter option shown:

F8  Floating, flutish notes swirling 'round

G7 Graceful, sweet xylophone tones;

A6 Airborne delightful dance

B5 Bubbly cascades from

C4 Cocobolo

D3 Dancing chimes,

E2 Endless

F1 Fun

Now let me explain the image...I started just with a rough thing on the edge of my scrap paper to get an idea of brush strokes and color and stuff.  I wasn't entirely enthralled with it, but it was getting late after messing about with the poem, so I decided to take its photo and go with it.  The xylophone isn't even all on the page, and there are other oddities about it, but I. do. not. care.  It's there!  So here it is – poem and picture:

 

 

 

A Xylopome for a Xylophone

 

Floating, flutish notes swirling 'round

Graceful, sweet xylophone tones;

Airborne delightful dance

Bubbly cascades from

Cocobolo

Dancing chimes,

Endless

Fun!

 

by Donna JT Smith ©2025

 

(by a Xylophobe...lol!  I accidentally wrote that in my text)

W is for Window and Waka

It's April, so the Blogging from AtoZ Challenge is in full swing. My theme is Watercolor and Words.  This year I am painting a watercolor to go with each letter and composing a poem to accompany it with a type of poetry that starts with the letter of the day.  I am mostly experimenting with the watercolors still, so don't expect perfection....

Clicking on the letter of the day will bring you to the main site which has links to get to other participants if you would like to go on an alphabetical adventure!

The waka is a Japanese 5-line poem (or stanza) that is often considered synonymous with the tanka, because both have the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable structure. The waka groups lines together so that the first 2 lines should make one thought, the next 2 lines the next, and the final line can stand on its own, or complete the second group, making a 3 line thought.
End stop, or use other forms of punctuation after lines 2, 4, and 5. 

 

Window to the sea

You awake the child in me –

Salt in my hair and

periwinkles in my hands –

I look out and hold this world. 

by Donna JT Smith ©2025

 

V is for Vase and Virelai

It's April, so the Blogging from AtoZ Challenge is in full swing. My theme is Watercolor and Words.  This year I am painting a watercolor to go with each letter and composing a poem to accompany it with a type of poetry that starts with the letter of the day.  I am mostly experimenting with the watercolors still, so don't expect perfection....

Clicking on the letter of the day will bring you to the main site which has links to get to other participants if you would like to go on an alphabetical adventure!

 

 

The Virelai is a French poetic form with alternating rhymes and line lengths. Here are basic guidelines:

• nine lines per stanza
• lines one, two, four, five, seven, and eight have 5 syllables
• lines three, six, and nine have 2 syllables
• the five-syllable lines rhyme with each other and the two-syllable lines rhyme with each other for the rhyme pattern: aabaabaab
  
• the end rhyme for the short lines continues on in the following stanza: bbcbbcbbc
• the final stanza's short-line end rhyme should be the same as the long-line end rhyme in the opening stanza (to complete the end-rhyme circle) ccaccacca
• So with 3 stanzas it would look like this: aabaabaab, bbcbbcbbc, ccaccacca
  
  
  
  

  
  

  Faced with a Vase
  

  
  

  Reflections I face

  as I pause in space

   

  by bed

  water in clear vase

  six flowers embrace

  re-fed
  

  I grant each a place
  

  for petals misplaced

  and spread
  

   

  It seems that I've read
  

  blooms have no dread
  

  when picked

  and a vase doesn't shed
  

  a tear it is said

  when nicked
  

  blooms pink, orange, red
  

  and vase are instead
  

  sore tricked
  

   

  Though tall walls constrict
  

  they see no conflict
  

  of place
  

  warm sunlight is clicked
  

  the sky that's cloud-slicked
  

  replaced
  

  they all contradict
  

  and only depict
  

  dead space

  
  

  by Donna JT Smith ©2025

  
  

  Oh, my.  That was tiring and trying.  This form has quite the structure.  I may try it again, but it takes a lot out of you.  Trying to make it make sense, have a flow, and follow syllables and rhyming repetitions was like wrangling cats!  You have to make sure you have enough words that rhyme and are usable, before you even start or you will run out before the end or have to just say gibberish.  It then becomes less a free-flowing expression and can get very mechanical and deliberate sounding.

  Tomorrow is W and I am not ready.  Wagon, wheel, witch, willow, window...maybe window.  That could be fun.  See you later, when I know and have done what I'm doing.
  

  
  

   
  

   
  

  
  

  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

   
  

  
  

U is for Ukulele and an Ubi Sunt

It's April, so the Blogging from AtoZ Challenge is in full swing. My theme is Watercolor and Words.  This year I am painting a watercolor to go with each letter and composing a poem to accompany it with a type of poetry that starts with the letter of the day.  I am mostly experimenting with the watercolors still, so don't expect perfection....

Clicking on the letter of the day will bring you to the main site which has links to get to other participants if you would like to go on an alphabetical adventure!

 

Ubi sunt comes from the Latin meaning “Where are they?” The phrase “ubi sunt” begins many medieval poems, most of which are a meditation on death and mortality,  but has come to mean any style of poem that tone, and using a similar rhetorical questioning device. 

There is a sense of nostalgia, the idea of the transience of life, and a pessimistic tone; that all things end, all things die, and things were better back long ago. The format is not the issue in this type of poem, it is the sentiment. 

After writing this I decided to make it a shape poem also.  Lol!  'cause why not? And after way overworking and overthinking and overpainting.  I stopped and said, "Enough already."  No exclamation point.  Just a firm period. And order.  It's a uke. Take it or leave it. You should have seen the first one.  And I thought this would be easier than a turtle.

 

Ukulele

Where

did our

small

"my

dog

has

fleas"

makers of joy go? Did

they have all four strings? 

Were they supposed to? 

Were they in

tune? Did it really

matter?  Did anyone care? 

"Bicycle Built for Two" is the 

best song ever. We will sing it 

forever. Do you want to

ride bikes?

by Donna JT Smith ©2025 

History of me and ukuleles, and this poem:

When I was young, a friend and I used to play ukuleles in the summer. I doubt that we were anything to sing about, but we had fun. I decided to get a uke a few years ago. I thought it would be something to do. It would occupy some very alone times that were coming.

I took it with me to the nursing home when I was there recovering from a fortunate fall down a full flight of stairs (fortunate because I should not be here, but am). It fit in my wheelchair I had to use for a while, and I took it to the next room. And I was able, even with braces on both wrists, to strum the chords to a couple of hymns and play and sing to the 96 year old woman next door.

I now own 10 ukuleles. And I play weekly with the Skidompha Strummers. I’m not good at it, but I don’t need to be. I’m having fun.

T is for Turtle and a Tetractys

It's April, so the Blogging from AtoZ Challenge is in full swing. My theme is Watercolor and Words.  This year I am painting a watercolor to go with each letter and composing a poem to accompany it with a type of poetry that starts with the letter of the day.  I am mostly experimenting with the watercolors still, so don't expect perfection....

Clicking on the letter of the day will bring you to the main site which has links to get to other participants if you would like to go on an alphabetical adventure!

 

T is for Turtle and a Tetractys.  I wasn't delighted with the Box Turtle I did.  But I decided not to scrap it and just post it regardless.  I'm still hurrying too much and overthinking.  That's when it gets messy.  The head was my favorite part, and if I'd thought it out better and slowed down I could have done it all better.  But I didn't.  Still every time I do a painting, it gives me hope that I might do better the next time, that I am improving. But do you know how hard it is for me to be patient and watch paint dry????

I wrote a Tetractys to go with the painting.  I copied and pasted the info about Eastern Box Turtle from Wikipedia...and took only a sparse amount of the information I found, to write the poem.

The Box Turtle is a very interesting animal!  They are now on the Vulnerable List for extinction due to their slow movement (getting hit by cars), urbanization of their habitat, and low reproduction rates. In captivity they can live up to 100 years, but hardly every do, because of their complex needs in habitat.  You really should go to Wiki and look them up.

Tetractys, a poetic form invented by Ray Stebbing, consists of at least 5 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 syllables (total of 20). They may be written with more than one verse, but then must have an inverted syllable count.
Double Tetractys: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10, 4, 3, 2, 1
Triple Tetractys: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 10
It could also be written a with reversed syllable pattern: 10, 4, 3, 2, 1.
"Euclid, the mathematician of classical times, considered the number series 1, 2, 3, 4 to have mystical significance because its sum is 10, so he dignified it with a name of its own - Tetractys. The tetractys could be Britain's answer to the haiku. Its challenge is to express a complete thought, profound or comic, witty or wise, within the narrow compass of twenty syllables." - Ray Stebbing

box
turtle
in the grass
moving slowly
sporting flowery scuted carapace
envy of butterflies and bumblebees
which boxes munch
with mushrooms
snails and
slugs


By Donna JT Smith ©2025

S is for Sofa and Sedona

It's April, so the Blogging from AtoZ Challenge is in full swing. My theme is Watercolor and Words.  This year I am painting a watercolor to go with each letter and composing a poem to accompany it with a type of poetry that starts with the letter of the day.  I am mostly experimenting with the watercolors still, so don't expect perfection....

Clicking on the letter of the day will bring you to the main site which has links to get to other participants if you would like to go on an alphabetical adventure!

 

For the letter S, I wrote a Sedona to go with my watercolor of a sofa.  A Sedona is an old form that is unrhymed two stanza poem of three lines in each stanza.  Each stanza is a poem called a Katuata which has syllable structure of 5-7-7.  The two katuata's may address the same subject from differing perspectives from the first to the second.  I think I did it in mine today.

Sofa

Your cushions so soft

invite me to come snuggle

with a good book and hot tea.

 

Ball drops in my book,

wagging tail threatens my tea.

Sofa, quiet time later?

 

by Donna JT Smith ©2025

R is for Rabbit and Rictameter

 It's April, so the Blogging from AtoZ Challenge is in full swing. My theme is Watercolor and Words.  This year I am painting a watercolor to go with each letter and composing a poem to accompany it with a type of poetry that starts with the letter of the day.  I am mostly experimenting with the watercolors still, so don't expect perfection....

Clicking on the letter of the day will bring you to the main site which has links to get to other participants if you would like to go on an alphabetical adventure!

 

Today I have my watercolor rabbit and a Rictameter poem form.

Here's the decoder ring for writing a Rictameter:

2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2  denotes the number of syllables in each line, increasing by two syllables for each line until the fourth line, then decreases by two syllables.  The first line starts with a two syllable word and the last line is the same as the first line. 

So, here we go.  Rabbit has two syllables...so I already know the first and last lines, unless I change it to "hopping" or "bunny" or "springtime"...

 

Rabbit

Shy, retiring,

Nibbles dandelions

In the evening as sun sets

Nose twitches, each breeze delivers more spring

She freezes, Fox trots through the field,

Into the scene she melts,

Invisible

Rabbit.

by Donna JT Smith ©2025

Q is for Quilt and Qadrilew

It's April, so the Blogging from AtoZ Challenge is in full swing. My theme is Watercolor and Words.  This year I am painting a watercolor to go with each letter and composing a poem to accompany it with a type of poetry that starts with the letter of the day.  I am mostly experimenting with the watercolors still, so don't expect perfection....

Clicking on the letter of the day will bring you to the main site which has links to get to other participants if you would like to go on an alphabetical adventure!

 

Today is Q, and I have done a watercolor for quilt and an accompanying Quadrilew.

Created by C. G. V. Lewis, the Quadrilew is a form of quatrain poem with an abab rhyming scheme, repeating lines, and contains an alternating syllable structure.

The first verse may either start with a five or six syllable line. If the choice is five then the 'sounding' syllable count is (and opposite if the count is six):

VERSE ONE,
Line 1, 5 syllables.
Line 2, 6 syllables.
Line 3, 5 syllables.
Line 4, 6 syllables.

VERSE TWO,
Line 1 is a REPEAT of line 2 of the FIRST verse and has 6 syllables.
Line 2 new line of 5 syllables
Line 3 new line of 6 syllables
Line 4 new line of 5 syllables.

VERSE THREE,
Line 1 is a REPEAT of line 3 of the first verse, and has 5 syllables.
Line 2 new line of 6 syllables.
Line 3 new line of 5 syllables.
Line 4 new line of 6 syllables.

VERSE FOUR,
Line 1 which is a REPEAT of line 4 of the first verse, and has 6 syllables.
Line 2 new line of 5 syllables.
Line 3 new line of 6 syllables.
Line 4 new line of 5 syllables.

If the first line of verse one has 6 syllables then the pattern is
Verse 1, 6565,
Verse 2, 5656,
Verse 3, 6565,
Verse 4 5656: (the rhyme pattern still being abab.)

For a longer poem, the next verse must be a completely fresh set of four lines, following the same pattern of rhyme and repeats.

This was a challenging poem.  The repeating lines were nice to have as a relief of having to think about that particular line, but it meant having to think ahead so much to what you wanted to rhyme with and how many syllables it had to be.  The first stanza becomes very important.  It is the beginning of each stanza thereafter.  So, big responsibility!  I rewrote this a couple of times, saving lines I wanted and rearranging their appearance in the poem.  But the good thing is, I love a challenge and a puzzle.  So I took way too much time out of my day enjoying this, but pretending that I didn't...do either of those things.  I did not spend too much time and I couldn't have enjoyed it.  I'd be lying.  So here it/they are.  I took too long on the painting, too.  But as least I didn't have to rework it.  It came out pretty much as I thought  it would.  And I'm not too unhappy with it.  There are parts I like, even.

 

Quilt

Cape a hero wears

red, blue and yellow scraps

patched together squares

so cozy taking naps

Red, blue, and yellow scraps

march on side by side

around me twice it wraps, 

long and plenty wide

       

Patched together squares

colorfully designed 

love worn, but who cares?

re-stuffed, re-sewn, relined

So cozy taking naps

no quilt’s quite like mine 

it’s not scridges and scraps

on the back it’s signed

By Donna JT Smith ©️2025