Vonnie Winslow Crist

   A good book of poetry or a copy of the latest issue of one of your favorite literary magazines, a cup of tea, a cozy chair, and a couple hours of free time are a wonderful way to pass a snowy afternoon.

   I hope you enjoy poetry as much as I do. I've included a couple of fun forms for you to try your hand at writing.  Plus, I've posted some links to publications that include my poems.

 If you'd like to read some of Vonnie's poems:

 Check out the following online publications:

   "Before the Battle" - "On this witch-kissed morning,/ as I trudge northward,/ dampness frizzes my hair,/ worms its way into my joints..." in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, July 2010. http://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com

   "Dragons" - "It's a bring-the-dog-in night --/ even the moon/ has hidden her face./ Dragon’s breath/ billows over the city..." in Emg-Zine, May 2010. http://www.tinyurl.com/vonnie-dragon  

  "Spiders" - "As I kneel beside the coreopsis,/ my eyes snagged/ by webs woven of light,/ I think of the two Texan women/ who plucked out their sister’s eyes..." in EMG-Zine, June 2009. http://www.tinyurl.com/vonnie-spiders

 "Sea Children" - "sea star/ tan pentacle/ skimming across the strand/ witching us with water magic..." in Sea Stories, Hibernal 2009 Issue. http://www.tinyurl.com/vonnie-sea-children

 "At the Asian Arts Center" -  "Listen./ Hee-Young Kim has written/ a poem/ on four horizontal banners pressed/ edge to edge like/ river, grass, mountain, sky..." in The Chesapeake Reader, Vol. 11, #1, Spring 2008. http://www.tinyurl.com/vonnie-Asian-Art

 "if not" - "If Harriet hadn’t been a woman/ steeped in bitterness and quick with a smack/ who longed for Mississippi and Louisiana/ like an alcoholic hungers for booze..." in The Loch Raven Review, Spring 2008. http://www.tinyurl.com/vonnie-if-not 

 Or you can buy magazines & books containing Vonnie's poems:

 A haiku in the February 2010 issue of Scifaikuest available from Sam's Dot Publishing: www.samsdotpublishing.com

 "Death-Haunted" - "I collect sun-bleached turtle shells,/ squirrel skulls, deer antlers,/ bits of bone from countless/ fox, opossums, and other/ unlucky creatures that wandered into the thorny tangle of..." in the 2010 issue of Champagne Shivers available from Sam's Dot Publishing: www.samsdotpublishing.com

 "River of Stars" - "I dip washcloth into metal bowl,/ wring icy liquid from terry cloth./ The plash of mint-scented water/ in the basin’s pond..." in Manorborn 2009 - Water published by The Harford Poetry & Literary Society: http://astore.amazon.com/vonnwinscris-20

 "Frozen Earth" - "Sky/ blue grey/ cloud laden/ seasonal birds wing/ their way northward, beaks splitting air/ as genetic memory sounds a fevered/ blood call..." in Manorborn 2008 - Memory published by The Harford Poetry & Literary Society:  http://astore.amazon.com/vonnwinscris-20   

 "if not" - "If Harriet hadn’t been a woman/ steeped in bitterness and quick with a smack/ who longed for Mississippi and Louisiana/ like an alcoholic hungers for booze..." in The Loch Raven Review  #4 Annual Anthology, http://astore.amazon.com/vonnwinscris-20

"Flower Face" - "Flower Face,/ I hear your cry this evening/ in the Llandudno twilight:/ the who-who haunting July air/ like a ballad sung by Celtic bards..." in the Spring 2010 issue of Illumen available from Sam's Dot Publishing: www.samsdotpublishing.com

 "On the Edge" in the 2010 issue of Paper Crow magazine:

 "Mars Rising" in the 2010 issue of Paper Crow magazine:

 "School Fieldtrip" - "At Ladew Gardens,/ fifth grade boys tumble over/ each other and their own feet,/ as the sun glints/ sweat-slick hair bluer black/ than the lazy flies whirl-a-giging/ in the daze..." in Manorborn 2006 - Poems of Place available from The Harford Poetry & Literary Society:  www.harfordpoetrysociety.org 

Some Fun Poetry Forms: 

 1- Try a cinquain (Sin-kane). It's a 5-line poem. Each line must tell something about the noun in the 1st line.

 Line #: Syllables/ Description:

 Line 1: 2 syllables/ NOUN

 Line 2: 4 syllables/ description of noun in line 1

 Line 3: 6 syllables/ action (about noun in line 1)

 Line 4: 8 syllables/ a feeling or emotion having to do with noun in line 1

 Line 5: 2 syllables/ another noun (often it means the same as the noun in line 1)

 2- Try a diamente (de-ah-Man-tay). It's a 7-line poem of opposites that usually takes on a diamond shape.

 Line: Number of words/ Description:

 Line 1: 1-word/ subject - noun, opposite of the word in line 7.

 Line 2: 2-words/ adjective describing subject in the 1st line.

 Line 3: 3-words/ participles (-ing or -ed action words) about subject of 1st line.

 Line 4: 4-words/ nouns, 1st two nouns about subject in 1st line, and last two nouns about subject of 7th line.

 Line 5: 3-words/ participles (-ing or -ed action words) about subject of 7th line.

 Line 6: 2-words/ adjective describing subject in the 7th line.

 Line 7: subject - noun, opposite of the word in line 1.

 3- Try a haiku (hi-koo). It's a 3-lined nature poem. A senryu is a 3-lined, 17-syllabled poem about humans (often humorous or satirical). A haiku that is about science fiction is called a scifaiku and a haiku about horror is called a horrorku!

 Line #: Requirements:

 Line 1: 5 syllables

 Line 2: 7 syllables

 Line 3: 5 syllables

 4- Try a tanka (tan-ka). It's a 5-lined poem that's like a haiku with 2 extra lines.

 Line #: Requirements:

 Line 1: 5 syllables

 Line 2: 7 syllables

 Line 3: 5 syllables

 Line 4: 7 syllables

 Line 5: 7 syllables

 5- Try a haibun (hi-bun) which combines a prose paragraph with a haiku that follows it. The haiku and paragraph can complement each other, or the haiku can summarize the paragraph.