This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, January 6, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "short forms." I'll be soliciting poetic forms of 60 lines or less, so basically below my epic range rather than only the short-short length of 10 lines or less. Free verse below the length limit is also fine. Here are
15 short forms with descriptions. Among my favorite short forms not listed there:
hexaduad,
indriso,
sestina,
villanelle. This list of
168 forms is alphabetical. Poets Garrett has my
favorite list of forms, including a list of
repeating-interlocking forms. Their
main page has links to poetic forms of 3-10 lines. Plus a few of my own: A darrow poem is a short, haiku-like musing by dark elves. A
khazal is a Whispering Sands desert poem in couplets. A moose track is a repeating-interlocking form. A tweet wire is a tiny 10-line poem designed for Twitter. Some short forms, like haiku and tanka, work well as verses in a longer poem. I have
The New Book of Forms by Lewis Turco so most forms should be in there. You can also prompt with a link to any exotic form you find; I collect these things.
In addition to forms, I also need topical prompts. One-word or short-phrase framing will assist in keeping them small enough to fit within the theme. Here is a
huge list of common themes. This
page of idioms has alphabetical and topical listings. I love writing poems about an individual word; see
The Phrontistery (WARNING! Black hole caliber time sink ahead!) for glossaries. Have an orientation that is not well represented in literature? Ask for a
sexual,
romantic, or other orientation! If it's not on any of my lists, just include a description or link to one. I also list
gender identities and
my characters with disabilities. Want to help me play with my bookshelf? :D I have
The Conflict Thesaurus,
The Conflict Thesaurus Volume 2,
The Occupation Thesaurus,
The Emotional Wound Thesaurus,
The Urban Setting Thesaurus,
The Rural Setting Thesaurus,
The Emotion Thesaurus,
The Positive Trait Thesaurus,
The Negative Trait Thesaurus, and
The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus. Simply click "Read Sample" and view the table of contents for a list of cool ideas. You can prompt a sestina with six end words; I usually pick 5 short flexible words and one long exotic word, but I'll work with whatever I get. Favorite characters, threads, series, settings, etc. are also fair game but this is NOT the time for long plotty prompts. Consider combining a name or title with a short form, theme, or idiom. If you like to prompt with photos, this is a great opportunity for that. Just type in a topic (see above for possibilities) and click the Image link in your favorite search engine.
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
Arts and Crafts America is ideal for picture prompts, or just name a craft.
Clay of Life suits words from
Yiddish, Ladino, or Hebrew.
Fiorenza the Wisewoman suits
Italian forms, most of which are short; also Italian words or phrases.
Hart's Farm suits
Old Norse poetry or words.
Kung Fu Robots goes with
Chinese forms.
Lacquerware suits
Japanese forms.
Or you can ask for something new.
Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.
If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts.
I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.
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