Eric Erb Poet Free verse

The Palinend

The Palinend
the Palinend is a form of poetry that the last word of each line is spelled backwards from the last word of the line before.

as such it always has an even number of lines.
ideally the words are spelled exactly, but the order of the sounds is paramount, that is, deer and reed is ideal, but dear and reed are still properly within the form.

Minimally there should be at least six syllables per line, and at least six lines per poem.

A variation would be where the reversal would be spread across more than one word.

Here is an example:  Steve Irwin, Moses’s Mom, and Me  

in amongst the Nile reed
she trusts what she held most dear

out along the barrier reef
is where he faced his fear

though through this world we strut
it is in God that we trust

thus we discover how powerful we are
in this moment, or any era

if i can stay in the now
then i’ve truly won

In this example, the first two couplets are good examples as they have the sounds in order (but not the exact spelling)  The third couplet is weak, Strut and Trust are not exact reversals of each other.  The fourth and fifth couples are spot on.

here’s another: reward

the part of me most reviled
is the part that will deliver

so with my spirit i will tinker
and together my parts will reknit

so i’ll dig back into that dark drawer
and there find my great reward

  This one is a bit tighter, as all the pairings are exact.

If you give this a try, please post a link to your effort here in the comments, or at erbiage.wordpress.com/2016/11/04/the-palinend/

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