The Abracadabra: A New Poetry Game
I invented this game during Paul Violi’s poetry workshop “Romantic Rebellion.” Two examples of the Abracadabra—“Four Reviews” and “Four School Subjects”—are presented below. Read the rules, check it out, and play along!
Rules:
The player chooses a general topic and four subjects within the topic (e.g. Critical Reviews: Theatre, Book, Food, Film and School Subjects: Math, History, English, Science.)
The player writes four poems—one for each subject (these together make the Abracadabra.)
The poems are written in Dactylic meter—each foot has three beats: Stressed, unstressed, unstressed. ONE, two, three, ONE, two, three. It’s like waltzing. (NOTE: This rule can be broken. If you find a meter better suited to your purposes, you must use that one.)
The rhyme scheme is ABCB. You may write as many quatrains as necessary—but less is more!
The player must use each letter of the alphabet in order throughout each of the four poems. You do not have to use one letter per line, only in order.
In the A-Z words, you may not use the same word twice in the Abracadabra. (This rule can be bent. For example, using “X” to mean “crossing out” is not the same as using “X-” as the prefix for “X-axis.” But try and stay diverse.
* Editor’s note: Click MORE to view Luke’s poems and play along – leave your magic poems in the comments box. Have fun!
Four Reviews
I. Theatre Critic
Asinine, Boring, it’s
Clichéd and Dull,
Endless, Forgettable,
Just God-awful!
Horrible, Insipid,
Junk, Kindergarten-
level, Lousy,
Mundane, No good—beg pardon,
But really Outrageous,
Preposterous, quite
Queer, and Ridiculous,
Sophomoric, Trite,
Underwhelming, Vulgar,
Wretched and Xeric
(Meaning “bone dry,”)
Like a Yahoo, hysteric.
Three tiresome hours!
It pains me to say
That Zero’s the best score
I can give this play.
II. Book Critic
Artful and Beautifully-
Crafted. Divine!
Elegant, Fine, Glowing
With each great line.
Honest, Incredible,
Jubilant, Keen,
Lyric, more Marvelous
With each New scene.
Ornate, Poetic, yet
A Quiet read
Rich and Symphonic, a
Treasure indeed.
Its Unpretentious Voice
Defines great Writing
Its Xylophonic prose—
Always exciting.
Pure reading pleasure,
Beginning to end.
Yes! with Zest this
Good book I recommend!
III. Food Critic
Active and Busy,
The kitchen is Crazy,
Diners are Eager to
Eat their Francese,
Goulash, or Halibut—
How International!
Jellies? Nonsensical!
Ketchup? Irrational!
The Lengthy Menu of
Nebulous dishes
Is Overwhelming, though
The owner wishes
That People still pour in,
A Quizzical hoard—
It’s all the Rage, this new
Chic Smorgasbord!
Tut-tut, I take Umbrage;
Shock Value will
Wane, when it leaves you
You’re stuck with the bill.
X marks the spot
Of the next new “it place.”
Young foodies Zoom there—
There’s egg on your face.
IV. Film Critic
Avant-garde, Bold,
And with Clever Directing.
Echoing classics,
His Film’s Genuflecting
To Hollywood rebels:
Indie Johns and Janes
Who Kindled his craft,
Whose Life works he Maintains.
His movie Never
Once compromises,
But Prompts the Question:
Can he win some prizes?
His Risky project—
No Studio picture—
Treats love and war
In an Unflinching mixture
Of Vignettes. Without fear he
X-rays mankind
To seek Yin in Yang, Zen
In chaos to find.
If you’ve grown weary
Of blockbuster junk
This artful film will cure
Your film buff funk.
Four School Subjects
I. Math Class
Arcs Bend in Curves as if
Drifting at sea.
Extend Factorials with
Gamma (not G.)
Height in Isosceles’
Theory, don’t mangle.
Just Know “two equal sides”
Form this triangle.
Linear algebra’s
Hard Math to take,
Numbers are “Real”
Unless, Oddly, they’re—fake?
Planes and their Quadrants, not
Easy to get.
“Rational” Numbers aren’t
Really, and yet
Seeing a Sin or a
Tangent in trig
Makes the feet Under my
Chair want to jig.
Vectors and Waves
On an X- or Y-axis
Fill me with Zeal:
My math mania waxes.
II. History Class
Ancient tribes Battled in
Classical Days
Egypt was Fierce, Greece’s
Heroes joined frays.
Furthermore, India’s
Jewel was Kashmir.
Locals went Mad Naming
Who could live here!
Ottomans conquered
Persia’s golden sands.
Quickly they Raided and
Pillaged their lands.
Rome beat their Sultan, his
Time in the sun
Met an Untimely,
Violent end (Rome Won.)
Such Xenophobic acts
From Yesteryear
Still rise up like Zombies
So wise people, hear.
III. English Class
Adverbs, like Blankly,
Contractions, like Don’t,
Exclamations—Fire!
Grammar terms won’t
Help if I’m Inside the
Jaws of a beast—
Killer whale, Lion, or
Mammoth. At least
Knowing when a Noun’s an
Object suggests
I’ll Perform well on pop
Quizzes and tests.
Rules about parts of Speech
Have no real meaning;
Trying to Understand
Verbs, I’m daydreaming.
When can I cross this—X—
Off my to-do?
“You’re done,” says my Zany
Teacher, “We’re all through.”
IV. Science Class
Acids and Bases and
Chemical Data,
Elements Float in the
Gaseous strata,
Helium Isotopes—
Just for a Kick,
Laugh Madly with Nitrous
Oxide—but quick!
Protons and Quarks Rotate
Within the atom,
Spinning—Terpsichore
Their Musing Madame.
Under each Very
Complex life form, We
Find a chemical
Micro-galaxy.
Xeroxing theories from
Textbooks, You lack
The Spirit of Science,
That Grand Zodiac!