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Welcome to my Cryo-Museum

We're happy that you're joining us today!
Do please watch your steps along the hall.
Though dim, the glow diffuse of periwinkle
From the vats of specimens will show the way.

Observe the odd mirage of air a-crinkle;
Anomalies of time shan't hurt you, dears.
If haply you believe a bell to tinkle,
The sparkling of past joy's upon your ears.

Gaze upon the rarities in glass
That display another world with other hues.
Behold the strange distortion of the spheres
That begins as soon as we the entrance pass.

Ignore the cursèd beast who cruelly leers
From the room off to the side, exhibit's closed.
If you focus your sweet eyes 'pon which appears
Direct in front you'll find your worries quick reposed.

For here is youth, and here is rapture-gleam;
And here is warm affection frigid kept.
The geode of the promises of fools
Is unsurpassed in beauty's rarest beam.

And there the scene of knolls and waterfalls
Soft-glimmers on a slate obsidian.
Here, feeling avian aloft enthralls
Despite the lame idyll quotidian.

Next is glee, and then insanity—
Though the latter's locked for safety of our guests.
No matter, jubilation of the former
O'erpowers dark magnetic misery.

Quickly will we stroll beyond, much warmer,
The furnace of rage past a-threatening thaw
Contained the passions and the fiery flaw
By our resident appointed flame-reformer.

As proceed we to the ending of our tour,
Regard the bright regalia on display.
Here the aspiration of the whole
Is made pleasing to the eye, and thus the truer.

Now we must desist, here ends our stroll.
No souvenirs we sell, yet carry hence
The sights and sounds and wonders in your soul
of our cryogenic hall
('least the ones that don't much gall)
And tell the tale to all to truth evince.

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Notes

So continues my verse-poetry-writing streak. The piece itself is loosely based off sonnet form in iambic pentameter, though the rhyme scheme is somewhat irregular and syllable counts vary. Generally, lines with an even number of syllables (10 or 12) begin with an unstressed syllable, and lines with an odd number (7, 9, 11) begin with a stressed syllable. The rhyme scheme at first appears chaotic, but is based on the general pattern of pairs of stanzas ABCA, CDCD. Meaning that the first stanza only rhymes the first and last lines, but the second to last line becomes the first rhyme of the next more familiar alternating rhyme scheme stanza.

There are 5 such pairs, and a couple break this general rule, as well as the last stanza being extended to a sextain with a couple lines of 7 syllables. Here is the entire rhyme pattern: ABCA, CDCD, EFGE, GHGH, IJKI, LMLM, NOPN, PQQP, RSTR, TUTVVU. The challenges of such formulaic writing are manifold: English is a generally rhyme-poor language, multisyllabic terms are not easy to employ in lines of ten or so syllables, and if one is not careful, all the formal considerations will eclipse the actual intended meaning of the piece.

Actually (spoiler alert) the extended metaphor of the cryogenic museum is a tour of my memories/sentiments, with its many tangles, yet preserved in a safe, impersonal manner. Of course, this is both a somewhat humorous writing exercise as well as a contrarian response to my friend Guy's (@geekorner) observation that I don't put much of myself into my poems. Specifically, that my writing tends to "leave him cold." It doesn't get much colder than a frozen museum! [I will take this opportunity to plug again our free in-depth poetry analysis classes that happen every Thursday from 5-7 PM in the Steem Schools Live Class channel in the Steem Schools discord. The only requirement to get your piece reviewed is that you must critique any one poem of your choosing on Steemit by noon UTC on Wednesday. Check the article for more details.]

I'll show the rhyme scheme and syllable count below for the curious. Bold will signify starting with a stressed syllable and Italics will signify starting with an unstressed syllable. I recommend writing verse forms, even if only as a fun and challenging exercise. I often find the results a bit silly, but I'm sure that would improve with practice, and depending on intention. However, there is also value in humorous poetry, not everything has to be heavy and deep.

Syllable and rhyme breakdown

(10)...We're happy that you're joining us today!              [A]
(9)...Do please watch your steps along the hall.             [B]
(11)...Though dim, the glow diffuse of periwinkle        [C]
(11)...From the vats of specimens will show the way.   [A]

(11)...Observe the odd mirage of air a-crinkle;       [C]
(10)...Anomalies of time shan't hurt you, dears.     [D]
(11)...If haply you believe a bell to tinkle,                 [C]
(10)...The sparkling of past joy's upon your ears.    [D]

(9)...Gaze upon the rarities in glass                                   [E]
(11)...That display another world with other hues.       [F]
(10)...Behold the strange distortion of the spheres       [G]
(11)...That begins as soon as we the entrance pass.      [E]

(10)...Ignore the cursèd beast who cruelly leers                        [G]
(10)...From the room off to the side, exhibit's closed.              [H]
(11)...If you focus your sweet eyes 'pon which appears            [G]
(12)...Direct in front you'll find your worries quick reposed.  [H]

(10)...For here is youth, and here is rapture-gleam;        [I]
(10)...And here is warm affection frigid kept.                   [J]
(10)...The geode of the promises of fools                           [K]
(10)...Is unsurpassed in beauty's rarest beam.                  [I]

(10)...And there the scene of knolls and waterfalls  [L]
(10)...Soft-glimmers on a slate obsidian.                     [M]
(10)...Here feeling, avian aloft, enthralls                     [L]
(10)...Despite the lame idyll quotidian.                        [M]

(9)...Next is glee, and then insanity—                                      [N]
(11)...Though the latter's locked for safety of our guests.  [O]
(11)...No matter, jubilation of the former                               [P]
(10)...O'erpowers dark magnetic misery.                                [N]

(10)...Quickly will we stroll beyond, much warmer,   [P]
(10)...The furnace of rage past a-threat'ning thaw      [Q]
(10)...Contained the passions and the fiery flaw          [Q]
(12)...By our resident appointed flame-reformer.        [P]

(11)...As proceed we to the ending of our tour,               [R]
(10)...Regard the bright regalia on display.                       [S]
(9)...Here the aspiration of the whole                                [T]
(11)...Is made pleasing to the eye, and thus the truer.   [R]

(9)...Now we must desist, here ends our stroll.                 [T]
(10)...No souvenirs we sell, yet carry hence                       [U]
(10)...The sights and sounds and wonders in your soul  [T]
(7)...of our cryogenic hall                                                        [V]
(7)...('least the ones that don't much gall)                           [V]
(10)...And tell the tale to all to truth evince.                       [U]

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Written by
@d-pend
4/17/18
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Image credits

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1 — "Toulouse on Ice" [cropped]
2 — "Ice Laden Forest Framed"
3 — "Ice Age"
4 — "Look for the Drifters"
.
Join the Steem Schools
Discord here: https://discord.gg/Ukubp9R
We have free daily poetry classes
on weekdays from 5-7 PM UTC
open to anyone!

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