A Gathering Place for the Members of the Soul Food Cafe
To dance
Wildly, with fierce
Abandonment, letting
Hidden longings escape through my
Moving limbs.
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The above poem is written in the form of a cinquain, sometimes referred to as American Haiku. Cinquains use a fixed syllable format set in 5 lines as follows:
Line 1: 2 syllables
Line 2: 4 syllables
Line 3: 6 syllables
Line 4: 8 syllables
Line 5: 2-3 syllables.
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The Taverna 
6 comments
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April 24, 2007 at 3:27 pm
shewolfy728
This paints a wonderful word picture.
April 24, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Lori
I’ve never heard of this poetry form. Are there any other “rules” other than the syllable count? For example, Japanese haiku also references the season plus has some kind of dramatic element. Is there something similar in cinquains?
Wonderful imagery, by the way!
April 24, 2007 at 11:20 pm
cronelogical
By chance
I find your word
beats out a rhythm for me
my feet now tamed find pattern
and can dance
Fran
April 25, 2007 at 12:25 am
gailkav
I love discovering new poem forms, thank you! And both your example and Fran’s set the bar very high indeed.
April 25, 2007 at 3:26 am
Heather Blakey
This is just sensational Edith. I am so glad you could escape into this realm and produce such a little piece of magic.
April 25, 2007 at 9:02 am
jan2
Terrific – pulsating!