Demi-Sonnet

This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. We are here every month. The next Open Write is June 21-23.

Our Host

Sarah J. Donovan, PhD, is a former junior English language arts teacher of fifteen years and current Associate Professor of Secondary English Education at Oklahoma State University (since 2019). She wrote the young adult novel, Alone Together (2018) and is the co-author on several books on poetry Rhyme and Rhythm: Poems for Student Athletes, Teachers Writing to Bridge the Distance, 90 Ways of Community, and Words that Mend. Two forthcoming books include Teaching Poetry in a Digital World: Inspiring Poetry Writing through Technology in Grades 6-12 and Writing to Learn Across Content Areas: Poetry as Formative Assessment. Sarah is the founder of Ethical ELA, a free resource for ELA educators to write poetry in community.

Inspiration

Erin Murphy is the author of more than a dozen books, most recently Fluent in Blue. This poem is a demi-sonnet, a seven-line form she invented. Her work has appeared in The Best of Brevity, Ecotone, Women’s Studies Quarterly, and elsewhere. She is professor of English at Penn State Altoona. www.erin-murphy.com

Illuminated

The night of the closest supermoon
in 70 years, I scrolled through Facebook
posts of friends’ photos. Peter’s was best:
the moon floated above a red barn
in Roaring Spring like an illuminated balloon
without a string. I’m ashamed to say how long
it took me to look outside at the real thing.

Originally published in Northern Appalachia Review, March 2022. Reprinted with permission of the author.

(Click the link above for the full poem and listen to Erin read her poem and discuss craft in the interview below.)

Process

Try a demi-sonnet:

• 7 lines.
• It’s formal without being, you know, strictly formal.
• They are encouraged to end with a full or a slant rhyme. (An Emily Dickinson approved form.) Instead of a perfect rhyme where the ending sounds match exactly (like cat and hat), slant rhymes have slight variations in sound like hope and cup, bridge and grudge.
• Erin describes them as “aphoristic” and something of an “elongated fortune cookie”
• There’s no set syllable count.

In addition to encouraging some demi-sonnets today, I invite you to think about the speaker in Erin’s poem reflecting on distraction, awe, and missed moments. The poem highlights how easy it is to experience life through screens rather than firsthand, even with something as grand as a supermoon. The speaker realizes, perhaps too late, that they were more focused on digital images than stepping outside to see the real, luminous beauty in the sky. There’s a quiet critique of modern habits, but also a moment of self-awareness and regret.

Here are two poetry writing prompts inspired by it:

1. “The Moment I Almost Missed”
Write a poem about a time you were so caught up in something—your phone, work, a routine—that you nearly overlooked a beautiful or important moment. What made you finally notice it? Use sensory details to contrast what you missed with what you finally saw.

2. “Scrolling Past the Universe”
Write a playful poem about missing something extraordinary happening right outside your window that is entirely FICTIONAL (or maybe not). A meteor shower goes unnoticed, a parade of animals marches by, or the moon winks at you. Use humor and exaggeration to explore what distractions keep us from seeing the magic of the real world.

In my poem, I write a demi-sonnet about emptying my closet to prepare for moving out of our home on sabbatical for a year. I am only taking one bag with me.

Sarah’s Poem

Destore-ying the Closet for Sabbatical

She pulls apart the closet’s seams,
a season’s weight shed, thread by thread.
Espadrilles swallowed by a paper bag,
denim pile reduced to a single name.
What she can carry, she will claim—
sleeves folded tight as unfinished dreams,
shoes walking toward adventures, heel to tread.

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may choose to use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming. If you’d like to invite other teachers to write with us, tell them to subscribe. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers.