April 20: Etheree

Let's focus on a very short form today.

An etheree is a very short lyric poem focusing on a very specific subject.

Am etheree has just 10 lines and is unrhymed. The first line is just 1 syllable, the 2nd line has 2 syllables, and so on, with each line adding another syllable until the last, 10-syllable line.

You can also write a double etheree (20 lines with the same 1-10 syllabics), a reverse etheree (10 lines, starting with 10 syllables and working down to 1), or a stacked etheree (20 lines starting with 1 syllable and working towards 10, and then working backwards back to 1).

The form itself is said to be the creation of Etheree Taylor Armstrong, a U.S. poet.

Below is a wonderful example of this form.

Your Wild Awakening

by Andrea Dietrich Scent of woods; callouses on hands I stroke speak of hard-spent days. I trace a stubbled chin and hear my name unspoken in a warm unwavering gaze. Pressing kisses taste of surging need. I revel in your wild awakening.