Invented Poetry Forms – The Bespokennet

~ Paul Szlosek

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Today I would like to share with you an invented poetry form that I created to honor “BeSpoken”, a delightful open poetry reading that is held on the last Wednesday night of every month at the Starlite Bar & Art Gallery in Southbridge, Massachusetts. The bespokennet is a fourteen line poem in which every other line shares the same end rhyme (thus the rhyme scheme can be expressed as abcbdbebfbgbhb). What makes the form quite unique and rather unusual is that each alternating line (the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, & 14th) also starts with either the word or prefix “Be”. If you decide to write one, please keep in mind as the name suggests, the bespokennet is intended to be recited out loud.

As you can imagine, because of the peculiar rules, writing a bespokennet tends to be a challenge. But I hope that won’t discourage you from attempting one. For  inspiration, here is the original bespokennet I wrote (and far as I know the only one in existence, but with your help, maybe there will soon be more…):

An Invocation (For the Poets at BeSpoken)

We all gather together tonight to hear and
Behold poets, and their clever musings, soulful outbursts.
Some won’t get it, others will get it so bad, they themselves will
Begin to obsess with rhyme, start to think only in verse.
Poetry’s strange, over-praised yet maligned, off-putting but
Bewitching, a weird art form that can either seduce or coerce.
It’s power surges through the room, burrows into your ears.
Before there was the poem, there was the prayer and the curse,
Hexes, incantations, invocations, conjuring spells,
Belief that just speaking words could make things better or worse,
Alter our existence, change the world in a real way. I
Believe that is still true with poets who recite and rehearse
What’s in their hearts for all to hear. It’s time to let your own words
Be spoken, release the magic of your poems into the universe.

Published by Paul Szlosek

Paul Szlosek was born in Southbridge, Massachusetts, but currently resides in the nearby metropolis of Worcester. He was co-founder and host of the long-running Poet’s Parlor poetry reading in Southbridge and Sturbridge, as well as a past recipient of the Jacob Knight Award for Poetry. His poems have appeared in various local publications including the Worcester Review, Worcester Magazine, Sahara, Concrete Wolf, and Diner. He’s probably best known in the Worcester poetry community for his fanatical obsession with obscure poetry forms, and has invented his own including the ziggurat, the streetbeatina, and (most recently) the hodgenelle.

17 thoughts on “Invented Poetry Forms – The Bespokennet”

  5. Pingback: Be Spoken For – ThusNSuch

  7. I like the idea of a new form of poetry. It is original, a fact that tells me you are very talented with such an accomplishment. I have not tried to analyse rhymes, structure…, nor read your piece out loud. (I am in a bar now and it’s just too loud). However, to be honest, I have basically paid great attention to the depth of the content, which I love: the essence of the poets and their motivations to write with the intention to be heard and even to change the world. All this carries a powerful message.

    Thank you for the follow. I am humbled and never thought so many people would be interested in my amateur writing. There is a poet friend of mine, Mario Savioni, who writes much better than me ( both poetry and prose). I strongly recommend you to check out his blog and this chapter from his novel “Pickles and Tarts”:

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    1. Wow, Marta! Thank you so much for your so kind and insightful comments. I can’t express how I appreciate your feedback on my poem. I am so happy that you responded to the content of the poem. Both the form and the poem was directly inspired by poets at an open reading held in my hometown. I really think it is magical when poets share their words with each other, either online or in person at readings.

      You are very welcome, and thank you for following this humble blog. I really enjoyed what I read on yours, and look forward to reading more.
      Also thank you for your recommendation. I will definitely check out your friend friends Mario’s blog and the chapter from his novel.

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      1. Thank you so much, Paul. I am glad you like my comments. Without Mario I would never have started my blog nor come across you. You have no idea of how important this is to me. I hope you like his writing as much as I do. And yes, I loved your poem too.

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  8. In his novel “Pickles and Tarts”, where so many similar issues to this poem appear: illusion-delusion, dream-reality, human relationships in the digital era with a man and a woman who are extremely different in age, similar to Lolita, only with no underaged girl, though young. Here is an excerpt from chapter 7: “Frank was hoping she was attracted. He prefaced with “As a writer” to offer her an alternative, however, which would save his face in case she simply selected him accidentally.”: https://savioni.wordpress.com/2019/02/20/pickles-and-tarts-chapter-7/

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