As I pondered over how time passed me by in July, and all that happened, I also realized there are so many options and pathways life offers us; infinitely many in fact. So that is what I focused on, those infinite possibilities of life.
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Poetic Sundays: One With Infinite Possibilities (?!)
For infinity day, on 8/8, what better form to introduce and share with all of you than the octo. The octo, as the name suggests, has something to do with 8. So read on to find out more about it.
What is the Octo Poetic Form?
On checking online, I found a few variations of the octo. And I have focused on one of the 8*8 versions today.
Created by James Neille Northe, the octo poem has eight 8-syllable lines. It has rhyme and repetition, and definitely fun to play with.
The Octo Poetic Form’s Characteristics
So the octo poetic form’s elements are that at its most basic, it is:
- stanzaic: a octastich (eight-lined stanza); since I did not see any stanza restrictions anywhere, I assume it can contain more than one octastich
- syllabic: each line has eight syllables
- rhymed and repetitive: has a rhyme scheme of ABCxxCBA (where x is unrhymed, and lines 1, 2, and 3 repeat as lines 6, 7, and 8, but in reverse order); OR it could have a rhyme scheme of ABCddCBA (where d is rhymed, and repetition is as earlier)
So this is how it looks
L1: xxxxxxxA (8 syllables)
L2: xxxxxxxB (8 syllables)
L3: xxxxxxxC (8 syllables)
L4: xxxxxxxd (or ‘x’) (8 syllables) –(where for the end of the line, ‘d’ is rhymed and ‘x’ is unrhymed)
L5: xxxxxxxd (or ‘x’) (8 syllables) –(where for the end of the line, ‘d’ is rhymed and ‘x’ is unrhymed)
L6: L3 repeated (8 syllables)
L7: L2 repeated (8 syllables)
L8: L1 repeated (8 syllables)
My Example
WIP from my side, but like many(well, all) poetic forms, has infinite possibilities. But you can check out a wonderful example in the reference section (poetscollective) below
h/t, References, and Further Reading
- Reference: PoetsCollective
- Mathematical Poem or My Slice of Wonderful PiE (Pi!)
- The Fibonacci Poem, or the Fib
Recently
On My Blog And the Homefront
This past week was almost a normal one after the hectic ones of the month prior to it. It went past sooner than I realized though and I found myself staring at the Sunday Scribblings post before I knew it! Regarding blogging, while I have been delayed each day, I managed a post-a-day these past few days of August. And I hope to continue doing so for the rest of the month.
So here are the posts since (and including) my last scribblings….
- 8 Cool Facts About Infinity: Incredibly Wonderful Infinity!
- What is Fun? The Why and How Too
- 5 Interesting Kids Books for International Traffic Light Day
- The White Tiger: Great & Bright in the Darkness of City Lights
- A Wonderful Potpourri of Romance and Recipes, Bollywood Style
- The Ultimate Joy of Reading Together, Always
- Sunday Scribblings #74: Found Poetry & The Lost Month of July
Upcoming
On My Blog and Home Front
I hope to catch up on many overdue NetGalley and other book reviews; and there are a few drafts that I had planned and kept ready which I hope to finish up and publish over the next week or two. Just another week before my DD heads back to school; this time as a sophomore in high school!! My son still has a few weeks to go before he heads off to college, but we need to get shopping soon.
This Week’s Celebrations
The Literary and Close-to-it Celebrations
- The literary birthdays this week… Barbara Delinsky on the 9th of August, followed by Suzanne Collins on August 10th, August 11th marks the birthdays of Alex Haley and Enid Blyton while 12th of August is for William Goldman and Sue Monk Kidd. And then there is Alfred Hitchcock on the 13th of August followed by Danielle Steel on August 14th. Wrap up the week with Walter Scott, E. Nesbit, and Steig Larsson for the 15th of August!
- National Book Lovers Day is on August 9th!! Yay!!
The Foodie Celebrations
- National Rice Pudding Day is on Aug 9th
- August 10th is yummy… National S’Mores Day (and without having seen that, I just ate one, literally a minute ago)
- And 11th August follows up with National Raspberry Bombe Day
- Snack it up on the 12th with National Julienne Fries Day
- Beat the heat with National Creamsicle Day on the 14th
- And then end the week with National Lemon Meringue Pie Day on the 15th of August
The Other Celebrations
- 10th August is National Lazy Day
- 11th happens to be National Son’s and Daughter’s Day as well as mesmerizing Global Kinetic Sand Day
- I should remember to use our record player as 12th is National Vinyl Record Day
- And if you need this for something, remember that the First Friday the 13th of the Year (which is August 13, 2021) is National Blame Someone Else Day!
- August 15th is India’s Independence Day.
- It also happens to be National Relaxation Day (and I wonder why we need two almost similar things in the same week – a lazy day and a relaxation day!!!). Well, summer days anyways…
- International Day of the World’s Indigenous People is on the 9th of august
- August 10th is for the king of the beasts, it is World Lion Day
- While the second Wednesday in August, which happens to be on the 11th this year is World Calligraphy Day ; so get our those pens and some paper and start practicing! I know I will
- And the 12th of August is International Youth Day as well as World Elephant Day
- are you left-handed? then the 13rh of august is devoted to you.. it is International Lefthanders Day
- and 14th is World Lizard Day
The Week Long Celebrations
- National Resurrect Romance Week – Second Full Week
- Kool-Aid Days – Second Week
Related Books
Book suggestions related to various aspects of today’s blog
- coming soon….
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Wrapping up my Sunday Scribblings
So dear reader, this was it for this post. As always, appreciate and totally welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions on these scribblings on Sunday! And which of these days in this wonderful week do you plan to celebrate? And what about you, dear reader – will you be finding poetry this week?
Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon
Congratulations on posting each day. It’s quite a task. It’s good to remember all our possibilities. Perhaps I’ve been too focused on how busy life has been and no time.
Thank you for the reminders of all the great reasons to celebrate each day in August, I think I will take full advantage of Aug. 10th while being lazy I will enjoy s’mores or two. I will read this again because there is so much great information I know I will like it as much the second reading.
Oh Vidya, you are my Amazing Blogger of the Day!!! I am planning on posting another entry today (the blog post that I just put up is actually yesterday’s blog post, delayed by the fact that the internet was excessively slow yesterday)! I am so excited about trying to write an octo poem that I think that will be the theme of my blog post of the day!!!
Hi Vidya
With so much to do, how are you going to find time to read, review, and blog your reviews?
just find time to blog on!
Busy, busy lady! I too am trying to find where July went. But on a good note I did get some reading in! I also posted a poem in one of my blogs for the UBC challenge.
The octo looks like just the fun sort of poem I love…some form along with some flexibility. And perfect timing on 8/8.
Glad you were able to post each day. I’ve had my blog for thirteen years now, but I’ve never posted every day for even a week.
It’s so awesome that you posted each day. That is a goal I am setting for myself for next month.
I love all the random days to celebrate. I heard Aug 16 is national roller coaster day. We plan to head to Six Flags. I also enjoyed learning about that style of poem.
Reading your post helps learn more about poem, and it so nice that you are able to post each day that is def a big achievement.
Reading about “octo” made me think of my toddler. I’m trying to teach her the meaning of word parts as in: “octo” means an “octo”pus has 8 legs 🙂
Vidya, time does go by pretty fast! We are already mid-way through August! I’m impressed that you are able to post as often as you do that’s incredible and sure involves a whole lot of time. Keep going, girl!
I should have celebrated National Lazy Day, but I think I’m going to go get a tattoo for Friday the 13th.