Poetry Society of Tennessee

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Saturday, February 1, 2014

MINUTE

The minute is a syllable-count poem with 12 iambic lines and couplet rhyme (aa, bb, cc, dd, ee, ff).   Count per line is as follows: 8-4-4-4-8-4-4-4-8-4-4-4, for a total of 60 syllables, the number of seconds in a minute.  The message of the poem is supposed to capture a moment in time.


The minute was created by Verna Lee Hinegardner, former Poet Laureate of Arkansas.


Example by Mary Harper Sowell:


Deer Hunt


I stood and raised my rifle high
as he walked by.
He paused to drink
at water's brink.
He stood erect and sniffed the air--
and saw me there.
I held my breath
as still as death.
But when he stared with frightened eyes,
to my surprise,
I waslked away--
and let him stay. 



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