We’re halfway through the NaPoWriMo challenge (30 poems in 30 days). How are you doing? Now that we’ve reached the halfway point, I felt it would be a good idea to try something that deals with halves. I credit fellow poet and writer Amy M. Levy with helping me discover the form used in today’s prompt.
- Write a cleave poem. The word “cleave” means both “to cut apart” and “to stick fast to.” That dual nature is the essence of this poem. A cleave poem functions as three separate poems:
- two parallel “vertical” poems (left and right)
- a third “horizontal” poem being the fusion of the vertical poems read together.
For examples and more information, visit Cleave Poetry Webzine’s excellent resource page.
If you would like, share a link to your poem (or the poem itself) in the comments below. Just remember, poems shared in the comments are not considered published in Wild Violet.
About Alyce Wilson
Alyce Wilson is the editor of Wild Violet and in her copious spare time writes humor, non-fiction, fiction and poetry and infrequently keeps an online journal. Her first chapbook, Picturebook of the Martyrs; her e-book/pamphlet, Stay Out of the Bin! An Editor's Tips on Getting Published in Lit Mags ; her book of essays and columns, The Art of Life; her humorous nonfiction ebook, Dedicated Idiocy: How Monty Python Fandom Changed My Life, and her newest poetry collection, Owning the Ghosts, can all be ordered from her Web site, AlyceWilson.com. In late 2019, she published a volume of poetry by her third great-grandfather, Reading's Physician Poet: Poems by Dr. James Meredith Mathews, which also contains genealogical information about the Mathews family. She lives with her husband and son in the Philadelphia area and takes far too many photos of her handsome, creative son, nicknamed Kung Fu Panda.
