What is this
Poetic form called
Shadorma?
Invention
So some say. Spanish it is
Alleged. Not so fast.
Shadorma?
Dictionary says
Nothing, nowt,
Not a thing.
It’s a clever little hoax
Useful, none the less.
Shadorma?
Spanish? That’s a laugh.
Tish and tosh
Internet
Myth. But face it, they are fun
To write, so there’s that.
What I think
Is – it’s portmanteau –
A mix of
Shadow and
Dormant – suggesting mystery
A sly cheeky verse.
It fits well
The cadence of speech
Rolls nicely
Off the tongue
Long enough to convey a thought
A sentence, laid out.
Made up or
Not, it has its rules:
Six lines per,
Twenty six
Syllables – three/ five/ three/ three/
Seven/ five. That’s it.
Sounds fishy.
Shadorma – I mean
Shad – a fish?
Or shadow?
Dorma a sleepy dormouse?
Pull the other one.
Shadorma
Is to Spain as chop
Suey is
to China
And pasta primavera
Is to Italy.
Shadorma –
Like chicken tikka
Masala –
(Birmingham)
Has an assumed origin
That sounds authentic.
Some prankster
Invents shadorma
As a joke.
No problem.
Clearly we needed a new
Poetic form. Right?
A joke you
Say, a hoax? How come
William
Shakepeare wrote
Shadorma? Answer me that
If you’re so clever.
“To thine own
self be true, and it
must follow,
as the night
the day, thou canst not then be
false to any man.”
(Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3)
“Cowards die
many times before
their deaths; the
valiant
never taste of death but once.
– Julius Caeser.”
Shadorma – the sleeping shadow. The perfect form for clandestine communications.
“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! The weed of crime bears bitter fruit! Crime does not pay…The Shadow knows!”
“Who knows what
evil lurks in the
hearts of men
The Shadow
knows. The weed of crime bears bit-
-ter fruit. – The Shadow.
It’s perfect. I am privileged to be one of your readers.
Ah, I now
get your response to
a post of
mine. Shadorma
is all new to me, who knew?
Not me, certainly.
Thank you Chris.
Did not intend a
mystery,
a puzzle.
It’s just that playing with form
is really good fun.
beautiful poem, Hi Josie I have changed my template, please let me know if your still having issues liking my stuff, thank you.
I had fun looking the word up and finding how often the definers quote one another about its Spanish origins. I am amazed that you found the two examples of Shakespeare. Well done.
It’s a classic case of misinformation getting repeating endlessly on the intertubes. One line gets entered into Wikipedia and off everyone goes repeating it ad infinitum. We have all been guilty of that I should think. And then sometimes you stop and say”Wait a minute. Where does this come from?” And now I’m curious about the first use of the word. More sleuthing needed.
Great fun, Josie. Well done!
Ashley´s last blog post ..A walk on the Lough shore
Thanks Ashley. Tons of fun to write.
Whatever this portmanteau called Shadorma,
I have doubts it will sell in Oklahorma.
But if I am right,
I think that it might
Do well where they can smell its aroma.
Some clever clogs created shadorma
– Clearly the feat exceeds mere pro forma –
It’s worthy of note
Wonder what they wrote
They are quite the poetic performer.
Wonderful creative and funny. It cheered me up no end. Thanks Josie 😊
Glad you enjoyed it Clive. Anything that cheers anyone up always worth it! I’m sure there has to be some connection between shadorma and haiku. All that counting syllables.
The creativity of my fellow bloggers never fails to impress and inspire me. Well done!!!
Thanks Will. this was fun to write. And yes – there are some amazing people on ye olde intertubes!