This week has a couple of poetry related days, you know, those sometimes fun, sometimes quirky, and always simply a way to celebrate things random and important and everything in between! One of them is Poetry Break Day, and since we also have Word Nerd Day coming up this week, I decided to feature the invented poetic form called Word Reverse this week.

This post contains Amazon and other affiliate links, that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support. Please see the full disclosure for more information. I only recommend products I definitely would (or have already) use myself

Poetic Sundays: Poetry Break with Word-Reverse

Take a poetry break this week, and note, not a break from poetry.. with the fun yet challenging word-reverse poetic form invented by Walter E. Ferguson III (AllPoetry). It is all about finding words that make sense in reverse too (not palindromes) and using such words as the last words of your poem’s lines instead of using rhyming words. So the reverse of the words instead of words that rhyme…

An interesting word (for the word nerds) for you: semordnilap. It is a word, phrase, or sentence that forms another word, phrase, or sentence when its letters are reversed. It is different from a palindrome, which is the same when read backwards or forwards. The word semordnilap itself is a semordnilap of the word palindromes!

Other words for these reverse words are reversgram, anadrome, and heteropalindrome.

What is the Word-Reverse Poetic Form?

This one has no rules, almost! Just one actually – and it is that you use reverse words where ever you might otherwise choose to use rhyme.  Instead of rhyming, the last words of the lines are spelled backwards (reversed) where rhymes would be (source)

The Word-Reverse’s Characteristics

So the Word-Reverse’s elements are that at its most basic, it is:

• word-based (of sorts): depending on the rhyme scheme you had in mind, you simply replace the rhyming words with backwards words. See example below to better understand this
• free of any other rules: no other restrictions on meter or line length or poem length or anything else 

My Word-Reverse Attempt for a Poetry Break of My Own

Found…
I cleaned that top drawer, you know, that junk drawer
And found that cleaning was its own reward
Plus that rare two dollar bill I saw,
Well, that one too, a reward it truly was!
~Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

Tips and Links to Help You on Your Poetry Break

Check out this link for a list of reverse words or semordnilaps.

Recently

On My Blog

My recent posts since and including my last Sunday Scribblings:

• Another Year of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and More
• Five for Friday: Making Up for Lost Time
• Books for Santa that We Will Love Too
• Sunday Scribblings #170: A Cento Gift of Christmas Songs

And At Home

We spent part of the last week of last year in the same place we spent part of the first week of the year, and with the same people! It was a cool coincidence because both trips were unexpected and last minute ones. We loved spending time with family and close family friends (who are almost family too) these past two weeks, and exploring Miami and Jacksonville with them.

Upcoming

On My Blog and Home Front

My collegiate son is heading back to school and the rest of us get ready for back to routines. I hope to post as much as I can this week for writing is therapy for me.

This Week’s Celebrations (includes a Poetry Break)

Literary Celebrations (close-to-it also)

• Literary birthdays this week include: Gerald Durrell and Zora Neale Hurston on the 7th (today); Anne Rivers Siddons, Philippa Gregory, Simone de Beauvoir, and Philip Levine on the 10th of January; Diana Gabaldon and Jasper Fforde on Jan 11th; David Mitchell, Haruki Murakami, Jack London, and Julia Quinn on the 12th of January; the 13th celebrates Carolyn See; January 14th is Kaifi Azmi
• The 9th is Poetry at Work Day (celebrated on the second Tuesday each January) and also National Word Nerd Day
• January 11th is National Learn Your Name In Morse Code Day as well as World Sketchnote Day
• Apparently, another poetic event this week with Poetry Break Day on the 13th of January

Foodie Celebrations

• January 8th celebrates National English Toffee Day
• While the 9th is National Apricot Day
• National Bittersweet Chocolate Day is on the 10th of Jan
• Jan 11th is National Milk Day and National Hot Toddy Day
• Followed by National Marzipan Day and National Hot Tea Day on the 12th
• National Peach Melba Day is on Jan 13th
• The 14th apparently celebrates a favorite Indian dish of mine: it is National Undhiyu Day

Other Celebrations

• The 8th of January celebrates Coming of Age Day as well as National Clean Your Desk Day
• Jan 9th is International Choreographers Day
• It is National Save the Eagles Day on the 10th of January and also National Take the Stairs Day
• January 11th is Heritage Treasures Day(UK) and National Step In A Puddle And Splash Your Friends Day. I love that it is also International Thank-You Day and No Longer New Year’s Day (so the unofficial deadline for saying Happy New Year to people!)
• The 12th is National Kettlebell Day so a reminder to get fit! And India celebrates National Youth Day on this date.
• January 12th is also Stick to Your New Year’s Resolution Day (keep staying commited to that get fit resolution!)
• The 13th is for skeptics everywhere, and if you are not one yourself, maybe you can try to be one for International Skeptics Day
• Conversely/weirdly, Jan 13th is also Make Your Dreams Come True Day!
• And it also happens to be Public Radio Broadcasting Day. Read more about it here.
• January 14th is World Logic Day and International Kite Day as well as Ratification Day in the United States. It is also National Organize Your Home Day on the 14th (and I have to clear up the remnants of our vacation to Miami in the garage).

Wrapping up my Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. Will you be taking a poetry break this week (not a break from poetry)? And do let me know if you plan to celebrate any of these mentioned celebrations this coming week/month?

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon