Today’s poetic form is called the Nove Otto, and it is a pretty straight-forward syllabic and rhymed form. I am sure you will enjoy attempting to write one. And I also bring to you two very different books for the letter N – one titled Not a Lot of Reasons to Sing, but Enough and another that could be called a rhymer’s regret – Nothing Rhymes With Orange!

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The Nove Otto Poetic Form

What is the Nove Otto Poetic Form?

I found the Nove Otto poetry form, created by Scott J. Alcorn, at ShadowPoetry. As the name might indicate, it has something to do with eights and nines! Simply put, it is a nine-line poem with 8 syllables per line and a simple rhyme scheme.

The Nove Otto’s Characteristics

So the nove otto’s elements are that, at its most basic, it is:

• stanzaic: one nine-line stanza
• isosyllabic: 8 syllables per line
• rhymed: with rhyme scheme aab/ccb/ddb

So this is how it looks

xxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxb
xxxxxxxc
xxxxxxxc
xxxxxxxd
xxxxxxxd
xxxxxxxb

h/t and Further Reading

• Shadow Poetry and PoetsCollective

My Novice Attempt at the Nove Otto

So somewhere along the way, I completely got off tangent from my planned twofer theme. So today, I am making a conscious attempt to twofer it by introducing one of the featured books.

Mis-fit Fruit?
Nothing rhymes with orange, they say
Not one word, not one at all, nay.
So don’t use it when you need to fit!

What about orange, that sweet fruit?
Trying to find a rhyme seemed moot.
It felt left out, a little bit.

All the others, they rhymed in glee!
But apple saw orange unhappy –
and with the rest, raised its spirit(s).
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

An addendum tercet to the Nove Otto:

[Does ‘nothing’ rhyme with something else?
Of course, there is more, Google tells.
From bulb to wolf, whole worlds in it.]

pin me

The Books

Not a Lot of Reasons to Sing, but Enough

Description

Kyle Tran Myhre’s NOT A LOT OF REASONS TO SING, BUT ENOUGH is a sci-fi-flavored exploration of the role that art and artists play in resisting authoritarianism. Featuring new poems, theater elements, and Casper Pham‘s stunning visual art, the book follows two wandering poets as they make their way from village to village, across a prison colony moon full of exiled rebels, robots, and storytellers. Part post-apocalyptic road journal, part alternate universe ode to Hip Hop, and part “Letters to a Young Poet”-style toolkit for emerging poets and aspiring movement-builders, it’s also a one-of-a-kind practitioners’ take on poetry, power, and possibility.

My Thoughts

On Button Poetry

You can watch Myhre performing one of his poems included in this book here. I realize I enjoyed this book even more when I read it out loud, and (tried) to emote like those button poetry performers do. While it is very often prose poetry and most often doesn’t rhyme, what it does have is power. And as I read this book (still not done but will be soon), I found myself first mouthing those words silently and then reading them out loud. But watching Myhre perform one of them as I read it in parallel in the book made the reading experience even more better!

Growing up, I mostly (or rather, only) read poems that rhymed, had regular meter or some easily visible form, and never thought I would be reading something like this in the future, and loving it. Yet, here I am, loving both the classics and the contemporary, the bard and button poetry (both written to perform, by the way), and aspiring to write better each day. Paraphrasing Myhre, (and asking myself, do I even dare to?): “I am not a poet, I am a person who writes poems”

On the Book

As for what the book is about, the description says quite a bit. While I am not a huge sci-fi fan, I love listening to button poetry, which is why I picked this book. I am loving how Myhre subtly weaves in lessons on poetry while touching upon so many of the issues we face in today’s society (but set in a futuristic dystopian society) all while adding strong threads of hope and positivity throughout.

Don’t forget to read the Afterword (or Liner Notes, as Myhre puts it), as well as the amazing Process, Reflect, Create section that includes so much information; that will help you understand things better, on the book itself (themes, motifs, the hows and whys in the book), as well as writing prompts that are sure to spark your imagination.

Get this cool read here

Nothing Rhymes With Orange

Somewhat zany, absurdly silly, and adorably cute! Orange’s friends happily rhyme (apple grapples while banana parties in cabanas), and orange feels left out – as you can see from the fruit’s running commentary throughout the book.

As the book takes unexpected and even zany yet delightful twists and turns, orange is bewildered, confused, and despondent too (distraught maybe), and readers might feel the same too!! But since this is an adorably cute book as I said at the start, the end is sure to delight you.

While I am left wondering as to the intended audience of the book, considering the wordiness (in length and some of the words themselves – like – there is Nietzsche!!), I am still smiling about it. The book reminds me of all those animated movies that have humor appealing to young and old alike yet differently.

So if you ask me, this book is a-peel-ing from start to end,. Read it out loud with the family or in a classroom. While this means that older readers will need to explain words or Neitzsche to young ones and it will take a while to read, it is worth it!!

In addition, Rex manages to include lessons of inclusion and friendship so very well into the book. Last but not the least, the illustrations are quirky and cute with emotive facial features inked onto photos of actual fruit!

Get it here

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear readers, have you read the featured books? Or any similar reads? I would love to hear your thoughts and recommendations. What do you think about the Nove Otto poetic form? Will you write one yourself?

For previous posts in the challenges for this month, check out the links below:

Day 0  Day 1 – A  Day 2 – B  Day 3  Day 4 – C  Day 5 – D  Day 6 – E  Day 7 – F  Day 8 – G Day 9 – H Day 10 Day 11 – I Day 12 – J Day 13 – K Day 14 – L Day 15 – M

Linking up to BlogChatterA2Z, Blogging from A-to-Z April Challenge, NaPoWriMo, and the Ultimate Blog Challenge