ETHEREE

This is a wedge-shaped form invented by Etheree Armstrong of Missouri. The 10-line structure has syllable count per line of 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. Meter and rhyme was not required. Any number of sentences may be used. The trick is to create a memorable message within the required format. Of interest, the 1999 brochure for Poets' Roundtable of Arkansas spoke of this form as containing imagery and possible undertones of second meaning.


The poem must appear as a wedge; a pyramid is not acceptable. 


The examples are from "Intriguing Etheree," a small collection by Ted Badger and E. A. Henderson, published by Bear House, Eureka Springs, AR 1996.



A TOAST

This
brandy
reminds me
of my mother.
I see her again
wanting to celebrate
each day's small victory, and
to soften the edges of loss.
Her celebrations lifted us all
and taught us proper disdain for defeat.

WIDOWER

The
old man
who has been
a pest for year--
ever since his wife
left him unprepared for
life alone--is now finding
it difficult to drive, or walk,
and I, who heartily dislike him,
find impatience giving way to pity.